Never Let Me Go
by JennyBeau21
Summary: When aspiring author; Ally Dawson moves to Miami and transfers to a new school, she experiences the unimaginable whilst also dealing with new friendships, loss and most importantly love. Its hard to hold onto something that you love, but its especially difficult to never let it go.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey guys, I want to introduce you to my new story 'Never Let me Go'. After my first story 'The Billionaire & His Assistant' did so well, I decided to write a new story and I hope you guys like this one too._**

 ** _Some warnings: this story is going to be different from any other fan fictions you've probably read as it would feature a lot of mature content and mental disorders that might upset or cause harm to the reader. If you're under 14, I advice not to read as some chapters might be a little tense and overwhelming, but if you think you can handle it then go ahead. This story is also going to be filled with some very sad/emotional content and It is also going to include LOTS of drama._**

 _ **Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

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I remember it all like it was just yesterday. The memories that I never expected to make and the people that I never expected to meet... It all went away so quickly. Seven years can feel like a long time to most people, but to me it felt like an eternity, like each passing year dreaded its time to come by. There wasn't a day that went past where I wouldn't think of all the things that happened seven years ago, but as each day passes, I would begin to forget the significant things, but I would never forget that particular day, no matter how much I desperately wanted to and no matter how much I forced myself too. I would never forget the day I lost him forever, the day that I let him go.

 _~Seven years ago: January 7th, 2011._

I gazed out the window at people walking by in the streets of Miami, Florida as my mother drove me to my new school. Just last week we had moved from our home in Washington, because of my Father's new business job in Miami, and it meant that I had to leave back everything, including all of my friends. It was a drastic move that shook our small family of three for a while, well it wasn't like we barely got along in the first place.

After a while, we pulled up in front of the school and I sighed before peering out the window to see different types of kids spread out everywhere. Some where surrounded by many different people and some stood alone. It was pretty obvious to realize and notice the roles they fit in. Back in Washington, I wasn't known as the popular kid or the kid who was outcast by everybody, I was somewhere in the middle. Some people liked me and some didn't, but it didn't affect who I was as a person as I had my close group of friends who meant everything to me, and it sucked knowing that I might never see them again. Starting a new school five months into my senior year wasn't the hardest part for me, the hardest part was being far away from my friends.

I shifted my eyes away from the window before turning to look at my mother, who blew on her cigarette whilst turning of the engine of the car. She turned to catch my gaze and sighed before speaking up. "I know its difficult but I hope you settle and make a lot of friends" she smiled before adjusting her sunglasses and going to ruffle my hair. I rolled my eyes and sighed as she began her usual child talk she frequently had with me. Four years ago after my mom had given birth to a baby girl, she had unfortunately died a month later, which had resulted her to often treat me as she would've loved to treat her in her early years. "I want us to be happy here Ally, moving to Miami could be the fresh start we've always needed, especially for me and your Father, so-

"I understand mom, you and Lester need to work on your marriage" I said, quickly cutting her off her sentence.

She nodded her head and adjusted her sunglasses again before turning her attention to the road. I furrowed my eyebrows and gaped up at her as she stared of into the distance in deep thought about something. "Can you take of your sunglasses?" I asked reaching my hand up to her face, but before I could go near it, she quickly smacked my hand away before taking a deep breath. "Mom... is everything okay?... please take of your sunglasses" I pleaded once more. This time she stayed quiet long enough for me to lose my patience. "Could you stop it and just take of your fucking sunglasses!" I snapped causing some people walking past to glance over at the car. She stayed silent again for several seconds before taking of her sunglasses to expose her black eye and bruises all around her eye.

I stared bitterly as she gazed forward avoiding my gaze before frustratingly running my fingers through my hair and down my face. "How do you expect that bastard to take you seriously in that marriage if you keep letting him fucking do this to you" I groaned trying to contain my anger. It wasn't the first time that I had seen my mother with such a bad bruise and it wasn't the worse either. My Mother loved my Father very much and saw the abuse as nothing but her failed life to be a good wife and a mother. She let out a deep breath and rapidly put her sunglasses back on before speaking up. "What did I say about fucking swearing in front of m!" she scolded before placing her hand on her forehead. "Ally you're only 17, you're only a child, you couldn't possibly know a thing about marriage, and besides you know your Father and you know how angry he gets sometimes" she justified simply. I wasn't shocked that she defended him yet again, it had become a cycle in our family that nothing truly shocked me anymore, not even the constant abuse and the harm that my Father caused my Mother frequently.

I stared at her in disbelief for a brief moment before pushing the door open and stepping out of it. I waited for her to drive off a couple seconds later before swinging my backpack over my shoulder and turning to look around. I brought out my sunglasses from my pocket and was about to put it on to block out the blinding sun, but stopped as I heard a motorcycle quickly drove past me, which had caused my skirt to fly up a little. Hearing a couple laughter from the distance, I groaned under my breath and pulled down my skirt before turning my head around to see the person in charge of the motorcycle pulling up near the school parking lot. As he climbed of it and took of his helmet, I found my eyes suddenly glued to him for some strange and odd reason. He was fairly tall, and had messy blonde hair, which he quickly covered with his black hoodie. I watched from afar as he slowly lit a cigarette and I couldn't help but notice the majority of the kids staring and laughing at him, but he didn't seem to take much notice of it.

I would never forget how tired and weary his eyes were. His eyes were so vacant and held no life. With his gaping, empty eye-holes, you could notice a seemingly endless tunnel, reflecting neither light not emotion. And yet, when I looked straight into his eyes, I somehow felt being pulled by an unknown force... seeing a sad, pleading soul on the wall behind it. He was so mesmerizing, so difficult to look away from.

After a long while, I realized that I had been standing watching him without caution and I quickly shook my head before shifting my head away for a couple seconds to take a deep breath. Moments later, I turned my head back to look at him only to notice that he was now gone. Without making it seem to obvious, I cleared my throat before proceeding to walk towards the school, making sure to take my time along the way.

As I stepped inside the school, I looked around at all the noisy teenagers clustered in the hallway. Some were rushing to get to class, whilst some were by their lockers talking to their friends. This was going to be difficult, I thought to myself as I continued looking around. The hallway seemed to go forever, the shiny green tile floor loomed in front of me. The whispers of people closed in around me as I walked past them, bounding over the closed wooden doors of other classes and stark off white cements. I ignored all the stares as I was getting before looking down at my table to see that I had English class first. I looked around and sighed trying to find where that was exactly, till I spotted a tall and lanky boy being pushed around by a couple of other students, which looked to be jocks in the corner of my eyes. He had ginger hair and wore a spotted shirt with yellow overalls. I watched as people in the hallway began to gather around and laugh in his humiliation as they knocked the books out of his hands and embarrassed him by calling him names such as "Freak" and "Mentally retarded". There were so many harsh and ruthless words being thrown at him but those were the two I could really remember as they uttered it frequently to his dismay.

Minutes later, the traumatic bullying had stopped and people had began to scatter like flees in a hurry to get to their classes. I looked back at the boy as he knelt on the floor to pick up all his books and I quickly walked over to help him. At first, he looked shocked at my sudden action, almost as if he had never had somebody helped him like this before, but after a while, he shot me a smile to thank me. His sweet smile would've made anyone think that he wasn't just humiliated in front of a large crowd of students minutes ago.

"I've never seen you around before, are you new?" he asked picking up the last of the books, before helping me of the ground. "And I'm Dez, thanks for the help" he said, holding out his hand for me to shake. His positivity and sudden outburst of friendliness seemed extremely questionable.

"Yes, I just transferred here from Washington" I explained shaking his hand. "I'm Ally, nice to meet you".

He was about to speak up again, but was quickly stopped by a voice coming from behind him. "Dez, where were you? did those fucking assholes bully you again?!" I heard someone snap and I quickly peered over to see a small Latina girl with big curly black hair tug on his arm. She examined his face, almost as if she was checking if there were any bruises before turning her attention to me.

"Trish this is Ally, she just transferred here and she helped pick up all my books" he introduced smiling widely at him. I held my hand out for her to shake, but instead of shaking it back she eyed me up and down in an almost sickening way before quickly shifting her eyes away from me. "Lets go, Dez" she uttered in a low tone before grabbing him by the arm and pulling him away from me. I watched in confusion as they hurried down the hallway before rolling my eyes away and turning to look around the empty hallway.

After minutes of walking around the school, I had finally found my way to my English classroom. I looked down at my timetable to check that I had gotten the right class, before knocking twice and pushing the door open. As I stepped inside the classroom, all eyes immediately went on me, making me slightly nervous. I wasn't usually a nervous person, but being in a new school filled with many different personalities certainly had its turn-offs. I slowly shut the door behind me before looking over at the teacher who shot me a welcoming smile, signalling for me to walk further in. English was certainly my favorite subject, as I had a dream to become an author in the near future.

"Hello, I assume that you are Ally Dawson, the new student?" she asked looking down at her clipboard and I stuffed my hand in my denim pockets before nodding my head. "Great, I'm Mrs Nakamura and I'll be your English teacher for the rest of the semester, please have a seat" she smiled before pointing to an empty chair near the front. I nodded my head at her once more before turning around to walk to my seat. I could hear snickering coming from people in the classroom, but of course I chose to ignore it, as those type of things weren't really something that I paid attention to. I looked over to see Dez, the boy from the hallway smiling directly at me and I smiled back, noticing that Trish wasn't with him, or in the class for that matter. My eyes briefly scanned through the class, until it landed at a familiar boy who sat at the back of the class gazing out the window, and I quickly remembered that it was the boy from earlier on in the parking lot.

Oblivious to what was going on, he continued staring out the window, almost as if he was frozen in deep thought about something. He was staring without seeing. There was no emotion behind his eyes what so ever, but you could tell they had seen terrible things. You could almost see the scars of the horrors etched into his eyes.

An hour had slowly gone past and it was almost the end of the lesson.

"Ladies and gentlemen before you leave, I've assigned a project for you all to complete for me in the following weeks" Mrs Nakamura announced causing the whole class to groan loudly. She quickly brushed them away as she began to list the pairs of her clipboard.

"Austin..." she smiled looking back at the boy sited in the back. I wasn't sure exactly why I was happy to find out his name. "Austin, I would like you to work with Brooke for this assigned project, is that okay?" she asked, which puzzled me a little as she spoke to him with a little fear hinted in her voice, almost as if he was in charge and not her. Just who was this guy? I thought to myself as I turned around to face him. He slowly shifted his eyes from the window before leaning back in his chair, almost as if he didn't hear a word that was said. Moments later, as he picked up his backpack from the floor and got up in his seat, the whole class had remained silent, almost as if they were too scared to utter a word. He pulled his hoodie over his head, just like he did at the parking lot, before swinging his backpack over his shoulder and strolling towards the door with a blank and emotionless expression, whilst also ignoring Mrs Nakamura calling his name over and over.

As he slammed the door shut, she quickly flinched before sighing to herself and going back to tend to the class. I narrowed my eyes back over to the door before looking ahead, trying to understand what had just happened.

"Mrs Nakamura, I can't believe you would like pair me up with him, he's a total psycho, why does he still go here?" Brooke; who I assumed to be the typical preppy popular girl of the School, spoke before flicking her brunette hair back, causing the whole class to erupt into laughter.

Mrs Nakamura sighed to herself and looked back at the door, before turning her head to look over at me. "Ally, how would you like to be paired with Dez?" she asked grinning at the both of us. "Dez, since Ally's new here, I'm trusting you to show her around till she feels comfortable and knows her way around" she smiled before handing us both a sheet of paper with the topic of the project listed on it. I read through the paper and threw it back on the desk un-enthusiastically, before glancing over at Dez who flashed a huge smile. Was he always this happy? I thought to myself, before deciding to smile back, even though I wasn't particular up for spending time with anyone.

"You wanna come over to my house after school so we can get started on the project?" he asked in a hopeful tone. "I like to get started early... usually its by myself since my partner always leaves all the work to me because they're too embarrassed to be seen with me but I just thought that... never mind" he muttered the last bit quietly before lowering his head slightly.

I looked at him a little worriedly before sighing quietly to myself. I barely knew this guy, but he certainly had a weird way of persuading me. "Uhm sure... I don't mind getting started early" I smiled causing him to quickly lift his head back up in excitement.

* * *

 _~Hours later._

Dez and I walked over to his front porch as I listened to him speak. He was certainly strange no doubt about that, but he was nice to have around in an odd way. He had only known me for several hours and yet he felt comfortable with me to share some secrets he had only ever kept secret to himself. Even though he was bullied earlier on in front of everybody, he still managed to remain cheerful and happy, which made it seem like it was all too good to be true, but seeing as I had only known the guy for several hours, I didn't know what to expect.

He brought out his keys to open the door before stepping inside, and I stuffed my hands inside my pockets before following after him. It was a nice home, very traditional and nothing to fancy.

"Mom, I'm home" Dez called loudly before walking into the kitchen to see his mom washing up the dishes. She turned to look at him, and as she saw me she hung her mouth low in complete shock. Without any hesitation, she quickly dried her hands and hurried over to us with eagerness. As Dez introduced the both of us, I could see the gleam light begin to sparkle and shine in her eyes. She shook my hand and hugged me tightly, like she was pleased to see me. I had thought it was all too much, but it didn't take long to realize that she was thrilled her son had made a new friend.

"Its nice to meet you Ally, I didn't think Dez would ever make any other friends besides Trish" she chuckled placing a big kiss on his cheek before pulling up the chairs for us to seat on the dining table, and I couldn't help but gaze over at all of his family pictures of his mom, dad and little sister.

The conversation had somehow flowed smoothly after that. It was refreshing, I couldn't really remember the last time I had laughed so hard and it was all thanks to people who I didn't even know existed until today.

Half an hour later, we heard a knock on the door and Dez's mom had quickly rushed over to open it. Within a couple seconds later, Trish came barging through the kitchen with an almost annoyed expression as Dez's mom slowly followed from behind. Her expression grew even more angrier as she spotted me, but I couldn't be more less bothered as I was with her earlier on. "Dez, you were supposed to wait by my car after school, and what is she doing here?" she questioned placing her hand on her hips. I rolled my eyes and quickly got up from the seat not wanting to be in any drama. "Dez, we'll continue the project tomorrow, I don't have the time for this right now" I sighed picking up my bag from the floor.

"You know I don't know who you think you are, but just because you're new around here doesn't mean we should trust you!" Trish snapped whilst crossing her arms. "I don't like you, and I'm probably never going to either so just stay away. You don't know what people like us have to go threw, so don't pity us anyhow, it fucking makes me sick!" she spoke raising her voice at each word. I glanced over at Dez who hung his head low whilst beginning to shake rapidly before firing back at her.

"You know nothing about me!" I snapped peering down at her. "I'm not sure who I remind you of Trish but just drop the bullshit because everything you're saying right now, makes absolutely no sense!" I hissed and with that we began arguing and throwing insults at one another, with Dez's mom trying to break us up and calm us down by the second.

"Stop it... stop it!" we heard Dez yell, which had caused us to quickly stop. In a swift motion, I spun my head around to see him begin to start hitting his forehead with his hand continuously. I froze glued to the ground un-willingly as Trish and his mom quickly rushed over to him to try and calm him down.

I watched with pure adrenaline coursing through my veins as he forcefully shoved the both of them away before proceeding to aggressively bang his head down on the table whilst grieving in frustration. He had turned as red as a tomato and his anger radiated from him like a light bulb. The happy and cheerful person that I knew only a couple minutes ago was no longer there. It was as if I was witnessing something I wasn't supposed to, something that nobody only the people close to him were supposed to. I glanced over at his mom who had began to shake rapidly in the corner as Trish held onto Dez's waist from behind and pleaded for him to stop, but instead of listening, he pushed her away yet again and went back to causing more self-harm on himself. I had never witnessed something shocking like that, and all I could do was stand in shock as I watched it all.

The tantrum had gone on for what seemed like forever. I remember everything in the kitchen had been torn apart afterwards; the chairs were dismantled, the glass plates and cups were broken and laid on the floor and in the far left on the kitchen on the wooden floor was a small puddle of blood from where Dez had punched the wall, causing his knuckles to heavily bleed. The silence that came after that was deadly. Dez's mom had covered her face in shame, and Trish knelt down besides a wounded Dez, who had slowly calmed down to cry on her shoulders. The atmosphere had instantly became dark and misty, which was odd as it was bright and sunny outside. Trish had let out a frustrated and exhausted sigh before turning to glance over at me, almost as if she was telling me that this was why she wanted to keep me away. I gazed back at her a little uneasy before slowly shifting my eyes down to Dez. I didn't know what to do or say, so instead I just stood and watched as silence heavily took over the room, drowning out the remains of the outside noise.

A while later, I was sited outside Dez's porch whilst watching the sun go down.

After what had happened earlier, I knew I needed to get some time to myself. I had only been in Miami for a week, I had only known Dez and Trish for several hours, and yet I felt like I was already a burden. Back when I was in Washington I never really liked to involve myself in people's problems, I always saw it as trouble or a big hindrance that they could heavily fix for themselves if they tried hard enough. You might say that I had no heart or no compassion towards other people, but how could I when I was brought up with a heavy and sickening mindset that even myself hated to have. I couldn't escape it, but I knew not to blame my Parents, even though they were the main course of all of my hidden insecurities and self-loathe.

Moments later, I heard small footsteps scuffing through the dry concrete and I slowly look up to see Trish. Her eyes were red and she looked like she had been crying a whole lot inside. She peered down at me for a couple seconds before taking a seat beside me. We sat in silence for a while with neither of us refusing to even utter a word. The air stood still, and all we could hear was the sound of the warm breeze and cars driving by.

"I thought you would've gone home" she muttered, breaking the heavy silence between us and causing the thickness in the air to quickly vanish. She lowered her head to glance down at the blood stains Dez had left on her blue jeans before breathing out a heavy sigh. "I'm guessing iyou wanna know what all that was about?... Dez suffers from Intermittent explosive disorder, he's had it ever since he was little. It rarely happened before but now... ever since his dad has been pressuring him and whenever he gets bullied at school, it happens more frequently" she explained choking up on her words. "I'm all he has, ever since kindergarten he's been bullied for being the weird kid and I've always been there to look after him, if I stop being there for him I'm scared that something bad might really happen... I'm the only friend he has, he never talks to anybody so why did he invite the new girl over to his house huh? so he could get hurt again?" she exclaimed with tears rapidly streaming down her cheeks as I watched on.

"I've known Dez for 14 years and I always do my best to make sure that he doesn't fucking end up killing himself one day, I always do my best to make sure that he ends up happy. If anyone from school finds out that he has a disorder he'll get more bullied, and I can't have that" she sniffed, before raising a brow at me.

"Look I'm the new girl, who am I gonna tell" I scoffed before turning to look ahead at the cars passing by.

We sat in silence again for a brief while with her words running through my head. Of course it was seemingly hard for Dez, seeing as he suffered from a serious disorder, but it was also hard for Trish too as she had witnessed all of his destructive tantrums for 14 years of both their lives. "Do you have a smoke?" she asked, wiping away the last of the tear stains from her cheeks. I reached into my bag and pulled out a cigarette pack and lighter before watching her slowly light it and engulf in the heaviness of the smoke. I placed my hand on top her shoulders to stop her from crying again as I knew how much she was holding it in, and even though she didn't say anything, I knew that she deeply appreciated it.

Even though it had only been a day, and there was no time to tell, I knew that I had made a friend in the both of them despite everything that happened.

* * *

It was 8 pm night and I walked around town looking for a job, but luck wasn't on my side as nobody seemed to be hiring, I had truly been having the worst luck ever since we moved to Miami.

I sat down on a nearby bench before diving into my bag and bringing out my book that I had written many short stories and descriptions of things that I found fascinating. Nobody knew that I wanted to be an author, not even my parents and my two friends back in Miami.

I gaped up at the starry night's sky trying to find some inspiration to write down. A low, waning gibbous moon hovered tenuously in the twilight firmament, bestowing a very dim light upon the land. It was a cool, windy night; the swaying of trees and rustling of leaves could be heard but not seen, as the encompassing darkness had blotted out all but the faintest light. Briefly, a dark, wispy cloud eclipsed the crescent moon. For a few shadowy moments, it looked like there was a halo around the cloud, a dull aura of lunar luminescence. It was the type of night that made you want to stay out till morning. As I shut my eyes and engulfed in the scent of the warm and breezy air, it was the first time that I had ever truly felt at peace, not just the first time since I moved to Miami, but also the first time in a long time.

I was completely lost in my thoughts, that the sound of my phone ringing in my pocket had overthrowed me. I dived into my pockets and brought out my phone to see that it was my mom calling. I stared down at the Caller Id for a couple seconds before declining the call and stuffing the phone back inside my pockets.

I heard my belly rumble and I groaned quietly before stuffing my book inside my bag and getting up from the bench. I swung my backpack over my shoulders before pulling my skirt down and strolling across the street to the supermarket across the street. As I stepped inside, I zipped up my denim jacket before walking over to the food section to grab a bag of chips and a soda. After that, I had taken my time walking back to the counter, which was very much needed because when I got there, there he was again.

I froze glued to the ground as I watched him place a carton of milk and some cigarettes on the counter. I had seen him in three different places that day; the school parking lot, the English classroom and the supermarket, and the only thing I knew about him was his name. I began to think back to what people had said about him being a complete psycho and I couldn't help but think what they meant by that. I couldn't help but notice the same blank and emotionless expression on his face as he brought out his wallet. I couldn't imagine him ever forming so much of a smile on his face, because it was so filled with pure misery and anger. After a short while, he caught my gaze and slowly turn his head to look over at me and I found myself slowly taking a step back, due to the intensity and seriousness in his eyes. He looked at me for a couple seconds before slowly shifting his eyes away. It was almost as if he had grew more annoyed due to the fact that I was standing watching him, but somehow just like this morning, I couldn't seem to take my eyes of him.

"You're a dollar short man" the cashier spoke sliding the cigarettes back towards Austin. He looked back inside his pockets before shutting it instantly, and I could tell that he had no money left.

I wasn't sure what had came over me, but without thinking, I quickly brought out a dollar from my pocket before placing it on the counter. "I have a dollar you can borrow, you don't have to pay me back" I said as the cashier proceeded to pack the milk and cigarettes in the bag for him. I had thought that he was at least going to thank me for the gesture, but before I knew it, he grabbed the dollar of the counter and threw it back at me before turning around to walk out the supermarket. I watched surprisingly as he quickly got on his motorcycle and drove off before looking down at the dollar that had floated down to the ground. I bent down to pick up the dollar before looking back outside to where his motorcycle was parked seconds ago.

It was the beginning of everything that was to come later on, but I wonder what would've happened if we had gotten of to a great start, I wonder if things would've been different, I wonder if we wouldn't have ended up with the fate that has haunted me for the past seven years.

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 _ **This is a start to a story that I hope to take all the way to end, and would really love to do it with your support so if you enjoyed the chapter and would like me to continue on with the story, don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it.**_

 _ **Also if y'all are wondering how old the characters introduced so far here it is:**_

 _ **-Ally: age 17**_

 _ **-Austin: age 19 (he is retaking a year due to something that will be mentioned in later chapters)**_

 _ **-Dez: age 17**_

 _ **-Trish: age 18**_

 _ **Again, I hoped y'all enjoyed this chapter xox**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

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A week had quickly passed since I started my new school in Miami, and even though I wasn't fully settled yet, I knew I had to get used to everything around here, including the people I had come across so far.

I stared at myself in my bedroom mirror whilst trying to push away all of the flaws that I saw in front of me. I was naturally a confident girl in front of everybody as I hated showing any signs of weaknesses, but deep down and when I was alone by myself all the confidence seemed to completely vanish, I guess that made me fake in a way. I tied my hair back in a low ponytail and ran my hands down my face before swinging my backpack over my shoulders and walking out my bedroom door.

As I was about to head down the stairs, I peered into my parent's bedroom to see my mother laying on the bed. I watched as she gazed up at the bedroom ceiling whilst smoking a cigarette and I couldn't help but rub my forehead frustratingly. This was how she was every morning whenever an argument with her and my father broke out the night before. She would lay in bed for hours and hours, sometimes even for the whole day as she drowned herself in her own grief and heavy sorrows. I could tell that she blamed herself, she blamed herself for a lot of things, preferably the things that put a strain in our small family. There was a time when we used to happy, a time when there were no hostility between the three of us, but it had slowly come to a time when it felt like I was only living with two strangers who were in fact my biological mother and father. I stared at her in pure agony for several more seconds before slowly turning around to walk down the stairs.

As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I looked around the living room before heading into the direction of the kitchen to see my dad sitting on the dining table whilst reading a newspaper. I waited for him to look up to acknowledge the fact that I was now in the room, but instead he carried on reading the paper, oblivious to my sudden existence. I rolled my eyes and placed my backpack down on the floor before walking over to the counter to make myself a cup of coffee. The silence that derailed between the both of us every morning was awkward and uncomfortable, that even saying a simple 'good morning' was a stretch. He was a business man who loved his job more than anything, which was also one of the things that negatively impacted our father and daughter relationship.

"Your mother told me that you have a job interview at a convenience store next week" he spoke up causing me to slowly put my cup of coffee down and turn around to him.

"Yes, that's right" I replied bluntly, before turning back around to take a sip of my coffee.

I heard a slight chuckle escape from his lips almost in a mocking tone. "If the first thing you do when move to Miami is look for a job, how do you think it makes me look?" he questioned rhetorically with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "As a man Ally it is my job to provide for this family and you going out to look for a job embarrasses me. Have you thought about what folks would say? they would think that I'm unable to provide for my stubborn teenage daughter who so willingly wants a job!" he spoke in an annoyed tone and I slowly turn around to look at him as if he had completely lost his mind. I couldn't believe everything that he said that day, I couldn't believe that a man could have so much pride that he would completely dismiss the independence that I had always had.

"You're crazy" I said before realizing that it had come out as a whisper instead.

"Growing up, my grandmother and my mother had no jobs and your mother doesn't have a job too, so you better call those employees and tell them the job interview won't be necessary. If you need money then you come to me because that is what I'm here for as the man of the house-

"Just because you don't let mom get a job doesn't mean you can stop me!" I snapped cutting him off his sentence. "I don't want your dirty money that you probably spend on prostitutes every night before you come home... just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm a fool, I know what's going on". Just as my head lifted ajar, I caught the image of his hand coming towards me. Then a big slap to my face came down hard, causing me to fall to the side and my balance to fall off. The left side of my face stung, but yet not as harsh as the sound made as his hand connected with my cheek.

His voice then stumbled with a raspy tone, interjecting with pure seriousness. "Have you lost your damn mind, do you understand that I am your Father, I blame your mother for the way you are now, you're an embarrassment to this family!" he yelled pointing his finger down at me judgingly as I grasped onto my left cheek, whilst trying my hardest to hold in my anger.

Moments after he had finished yelling and letting out all of his anger on me, I looked up to see my mom standing besides the door frame as she gazed at the both of us cautiously. I gazed back up at my dad furiously before rushing over to the door. I picked up my backpack and swung it back over my shoulders. "Tell your husband that I'm not giving up this job interview" I spoke, and with that I stormed out the kitchen and out of my house refusing to look back at the both of them.

As I slammed the door shut, I clenched my fists tightly before placing my hand on my forehead. After calming myself down a couple minutes later, I looked across the streets to see one of the popular jocks from my school Dallas, smirking at me whilst leaning on his car. It was bad enough that I was forced to move to Miami last minute, but it was even worse living across the street from one of the self proclaimed air heads from school who picked on a lot of the students including Dez. "Hey new girl, why do you look so mad?" he laughed. "You need a ride?" he asked pointing his head back at his expensive car which his parents had probably paid for. I rolled my eyes and stuffed my hands inside my pocket before ignoring his request and strolling down the sidewalk.

I put on my headphones to drown out the noise of my Father yelling, which was still stuck in my mind before hearing a car pull up behind me. I pulled out my headphones and sighed before spinning my head around to see Trish's car and Dez waving at me from inside the passenger's seat. For the first time that morning, I smiled.

"Dez insisted that we pick you up, again" Trish spoke sticking her head out the window as her lips slowly formed into a small smile. I missed my friends back in Washington like crazy, but having Trish and Dez around wasn't so bad. In fact, I think they were the only thing I truly enjoyed about being in that city. I walked over to the passenger's seat to ruffle Dez's hair, before opening the backseat and stepping inside. They looked back at me and smiled and it was then that I realized how truly lucky I was to meet them, even under unfortunate circumstances.

 _~A while later._

Dez and I were sited in our English class, which was also our first period on a Tuesday morning.

As our English teacher, Mrs Nakamura began to discuss about a famous poet, I rested my cheek on my hand as I watched Dez gather all of his equipment from his bag. Even though he was only two months older than me, I felt as if I needed to watch over him and make sure that he was happy and smiling at all times especially when Trish wasn't around, and seeing as how I witnessed his emotional trauma of a breakdown just like last week, it made me realize that I never wanted to see it again and I would do anything to stop it from happening. It was sorta strange, I had only known the both of them for not that long and was slowly becoming closer to them as the days passed. I had promised myself that I wouldn't make any friends after we moved from Washington, but that didn't seem to be the case.

As he turned his head to catch my gaze, he quickly flashed me a wide grin, and I smiled back before turning my attention back to Mrs Nakamura's teaching. Just then, the door quickly flew open and in came Austin walking in late with the usual un-bothered and blank look on his face. He wore a black leather jacket and black ripped jeans, his hair was messy as usual and he looked more tired and exhausted than he normally looked. Ever since he insulted me by throwing my dollar back at me after I had offered to pay for him last week at the convenience store, I had refrained myself from saying anything to him about it, as each and everyday I would hear people talking around school at just how dangerous he was, so instead of confronting him, I decided to stay far away as I realized that it was the best thing to do.

"Uhm Austin, y-you're 10 minutes late" Mrs Nakamura stuttered anxiously, whilst glancing over at the clock then back at him. Austin stared down at her with an expression that screamed 'not in the mood'. Instead of dismissing Austin out of the classroom, she slowly and nervously pointed to his seat at the back and it was completely obvious just by the look on his face that she was absoulutely terrified of him. As he walked over to his seat at the back, the whole class made sure to remain silent as they always did. Why was he so feared? just what did he do?, many different questions ran through my head as he took his seat before turning his attention out the window just like he always did. Throughout the class he would remain silent and only leave five minutes before the class ended. In fact, thinking about it now I don't think I ever heard him utter a single word during the first week.

I looked over at Dez, who focused his attention on Austin and I slowly reached over and grasped his arm, signalling for him to look away.

Moments later, Mrs Nakamura cleared her throat and scratched the back of her head before going back to teaching, whilst making sure to avoid eye contact with Austin. "Now I told you all that the project will be due today and be presented in front of everyone, so who wants to go first and share what they've researched?" she asked scanning the classroom till her eyes landed on us. "Ally, Dez, would you like to come up?" she asked politely.

I nodded my head at her slightly before getting up and walking over to the front as Dez followed from behind. I looked around at everyone who paid their full attention to us, before looking back at Austin to see him leaning back on his chair whilst gazing up the ceiling. I rolled my eyes away before smiling up at Dez and going to speak up.

"For our project we researched about the novel 'The Great Gatsby' which was written by the author Scott Fitzgerald" I explained, whilst holding up the novel which I burrowed from the library. "The novel is about a wealthy millionaire called Jay Gatsby who is head over heels in love with a woman named Daisy. As the novel was set in the 1920's, it mainly focuses on Gatsby's pursuit of the American Dream and the relationship he holds with his next door neighbor Nick Caraway, as well as his slight obsession with Daisy, who is a married woman" I stated before opening the book up to a particular page and handing it over to Dez.

As he read a passage of the book to the class, I glanced back over at Austin who pulled out his phone from his pocket. As he read through what I assumed to be a text, he quickly stood up from his seat before picking up his backpack and rushing over to the door. I wasn't sure what had came over me, but I just suddenly couldn't hold back my tongue any longer.

"We weren't finished speaking..." I spoke boldly causing Austin to stop dead in his tracks and turn back to me. "I know you didn't bother to do the project but other people did, and its disrespectful to just get up and walk out like you own the place". As I finished of my sentence, the whole class had erupted into heaps of shock, with some not believing that I had spoken to him the way that I did, and I assumed that nobody had ever stood up to him like that before. Austin looked over at Dez, who slowly looked away, before looking back down at me with a pissed off look plastered all over his face. I had thought that he was going to fire back at me or say something, but instead he turned around and walked straight out the door without looking back at anybody. It wasn't the first time that I had stood up to somebody, and with someone like Austin, I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

 _~A couple hours later._

It was lunch time, and Trish, Dez and I were sited in the cafeteria as Dez explained to her all about how I had stood up to Austin. It somehow felt as if the whole school had known by then as I felt all eyes were on me.

"I can't believe you said all that Ally, no one's ever stood up to Austin like that, let alone had the balls to even speak to him" Trish spoke, causing me to sigh heavily. I handed over the rest of my food to Dez as I had lost my appetite before looking around to see almost everybody looking at me. "I don't get it why are people so scared of him anyway?" I questioned placing my cheek in my hand.

"You don't know yet?" she asked before looking up at Dez, who stuffed his mouth with some sloppy Joe's. "Well he's actually 19, I'm pretty sure he just turned 19 not to long ago and the reason why he's resitting senior year is because he was in jail last year, for about 5-6 months" she explained shocking me a little. "Nobody really knows the reason as to why, but there were rumors that he probably killed someone. When he came back to school about three months ago, he became more violent than he already was and beat up a lot of people, which is why hes's been suspended so many times, even almost all the teachers in the school are afraid of him" she stated, leaving me lost for words.

"I heard that he's in a gang. Even though he's pretty scary, I think he's pretty cool" said Dez, weighing in on the information.

Trish rolled her eyes at his comment before turning her attention back to me and speaking up. "He's a really dangerous guy so you really should be careful from now on because there's not knowing what he might do to you. Also, I think he's some kind of mute. He's been in my history class since for two years and I don't think I've ever heard him say a word, only a few people has ever heard him speak, some people even say that he can't speak but those are probably all just rumors. He's usually pretty quiet a lot of the time". she shrugged before going back to eating her food.

I lowered my head to look down at the table as I thought about all what they had said. I didn't know what to think really. I didn't regret standing up to him at all, but something told me that it was going to come back to haunt me later on.

After a while, I heard someone clear their throats and I quickly looked up to see Brooke, Cassidy. They were the two most popular girls in school and would have people flaunting all over them but I paid no attention to it. They weren't any different to the girls at my old High School in Washington. I looked back at Dez and Trish to see them sitting awkwardly and uncomfortably before looking back at the three. "Everyone's talking about how you stood up to Austin Ally, and we think its so cool" Brooke squealed before flicking her hair back, hitting Cassidy on the face. Cassidy glared at her from behind and quickly stepped forward before she could notice. She clasped her hands together before speaking up. "Yes! Even though he's like super hot, and tall, and-

"Ugh shut up Cass and get over your stupid crush on him, he's a psycho!" Brooke snapped causing Cassidy to slowly lower her head. "Why do I even let you speak, I swear everything that comes out of your mouth is so stupid" she scolded at her before turning her attention back to me with a whole completely different mood and attitude.

I rolled my eyes about to turn back to Trish and Dez, but was quickly stopped by Brooke who placed her hand on my shoulder. "Listen, you wanna come sit with us? its better than sitting with these two" she chuckled before pointing back to the popular kids table which was far across the cafeteria. I looked back to see Dallas walking over to us and I groaned quietly to myself. As he made his way over to us, he quickly took a seat besides me. "Hey can you two get lost, its obvious she doesn't wanna fucking talk to you" he hissed looking back at Cassidy and Brooke who rolled their eyes away at him before walking away.

The mood had quickly changed and I didn't have to look around to know that people were now looking at us, and it oddly made me uncomfortable. "You must be one of the only few girls in School who doesn't have the hots for that sociopath... I'm surprised he hasn't killed you yet seeing as you embarrassed him in front of everyone" he laughed before shifting closer to me. "What I really came over here to talk to you about Ally... I've had my eye on you ever since you transferred here last week. I can tell you're a nonsense type of girl and I like that... so why don't you ditch this chubby loud-mouthed bitch and her retarded friend and came hang with me" he winked before placing his arm around me.

I spun my head around to look at Trish who stared at him with a hurtful and furious look. I could tell that she was trying extremely hard to stop herself from lashing out, as she feared that Dez might explode just like he did the last time, so instead of speaking up, she placed her hand on his arm and flashed him a small smile, telling him not to listen to what he had just said. My eyes began to widen as I glanced down at Dez's hands to see it begin to slowly shake. Trish must have noticed too because she quickly got up from her seat, pulling him up with her as they headed towards the door.

As Dallas leaned into whisper something in my ear, I quickly shoved him away before grabbing Trish's chocolate milk and pouring it over his head as everyone in the cafeteria began to go insane. "Listen Dallas... stay away from me, and don't ever disrespect my friends like that, just who do you think you are" I whispered in his ear before quickly shooting up from my seat. "Piece of shit" I muttered under my breath as I picked up my backpack from the floor before walking over to Trish and Dez who stood waiting for me at the door, amazed at what I had just did. I could tell by the look on their faces that they weren't expecting that outcome. They were so used to getting looked down upon and treated like garbage that they expected me to leave, but even though it had only been a week, I couldn't leave them, not even if I tried. In a way they needed me and in an even weirder way I found myself needing them too.

* * *

Hours later, it was 7 pm and I slowly strolled down the pavement downtown whilst listening to music.

I didn't wanna admit it, but I guess I was truly avoiding going back home to my parents, especially after what happened this morning. I didn't wanna go back to them arguing and fighting over nothing, and I certainly didn't want to feel isolated being in their presence. There was a time when I would rush back home after school to tell them all about how my day had gone, there was a time where I could properly talk to them without them judging my every move, and there was a time when I loved them with all my heart and would be proud to call them my parents. But sadly, those memories were buried in the past, as well as everything I ever shared with them. They were my parents, they gave birth to me and I wanted to love them, I desperately wanted to be like a normal teenage girl with a normal family, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't forget just how much they scarred me and I couldn't forget the person they turned me into, the person who I had grew to hate.

I looked up from the ground to see a man holding hands with his toddler daughter as they walked past me whilst singling nursery rhymes and I couldn't help but look back. I watched as he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders before sighing a small sigh under my breath. After already seeing enough, I turned back around to keep walking further. I wasn't sure where I was going, and I didn't care either, just as long as it wasn't back to that house.

After a couple minutes of walking, I stopped to head inside the convenience store beside me, but stopped as I spotted a homeless man sitting across the street. I watched as people walked past him, refusing to even glance down at him, till I noticed someone walk from around the and I quickly realized that it was him. I wasn't sure why my breath had hitched and why my heart had skipped a beat, but the sight of seeing him again after what had happened earlier today made me incredibly nervous. I watched. To my surprise he had brought out some money from his pocket and some McDonald's fast food before handing it over to the man, who gladly expressed his gratitude. Austin slipped his hands inside his pockets, as he watched him eat. The look on his face was something that I would never forget as it was different to how I had seen him look that week. He wasn't smiling, neither was he close to looking even the least bit happy, but there was a look in his eye that reminded me of hope. I wasn't sure why I felt so many emotions whenever I looked into those eyes of his.

I was shocked at his sudden action since I had heard people in school constantly describe him as this heartless and violent psychopath, but I guess I was wrong to believe them. Of course I didn't know who he really was, but he couldn't have been that bad, not after what I saw that night.

I watched as the man handed reached inside the bag to hand Austin a burger, but he quickly shook his head. "You come down here every night to give me some food and money and I don't think I've ever seen you smile... what's your name son?" he asked gazing deeply up at Austin. Austin gazed back down at him for a brief moment before turning back around to walk away whilst ignoring his question.

As he turned to walk back around the corner, I noticed something fall out of his pocket. I looked to see if any cars were coming by, before running across the street to see that he had dropped a small locket with the name 'Aaron' written on it. I looked round the corner to see that he had completely disappeared and I groaned to myself before trying to find where he had gone to.

After what seemed like forever of running around trying to find any sign of him, I was about to give up till I spotted a familiar motorcycle parked outside a building which seemed to be radiating a lot of noise from the inside. I slowly walked over to the motorcycle to see the initials 'A.M.' written on the helmet it. Its got to be his, I thought to myself before turning to look around the dark street. The cheering from the inside got louder and I began to wonder what exactly was going on. I was about to walk over to the door, but before I could, I was quickly stopped by a scaring looking guy who towered over me with his arms crossed. I took a couple steps back to look up at him in disbelief. Realizing that this was a bad idea, I had decided to turn back and walk away, till I was stopped by him. "How do you know this place? you ain't no snitch are you?" he questioned sternly. His hand slowly traveled down to the gun stuffed in his pocket, and I found my heart beating quickly as I feared what he would do if I were to run.

I took a deep breath and gulped loudly before speaking up. "I...I just came to give Austin Moon his locket, he dropped it, but I'll just do it tomorrow or-

"Wait... you a friend of Austin Moon's?" he asked quickly cutting me of my sentence. "Shit, I'm sorry for scaring you like that baby girl, go ahead and come in" he smirked wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me towards the door. Just what was going on here?. "Actually, I think I'll just give it to him tomorrow, thank you but-" before I could finish my sentence, he had quickly lead me inside before shutting the front door.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before turning around to see many people crowded around what seemed to be two people fighting. There was a feeling of uncertainty as I scanned the room uneasily. It was a place that I had never seen before, the roars of the crowd were violent and deadly, they were like a pack of wolves waiting to unleash at anything they could get their claws on. I was about to turn around to rush out the door but stopped as I heard chants of 'Austin' erupting throughout the room. I quickly turned my head back and walked further to catch a glimpse of Austin knocking out a random guy with an uppercut punch.

My eyes slowly widened as I spotted the blood dripping from his head, which had also caused him to stumble back a little. I watched as people began to crowd around him and I couldn't help but stand there, glued to the ground in shock.

Moments later, I felt a hand come in contact with my shoulder and I quickly flinched and turned around to see a tall guy with dark skin and dark brown eyes. "I haven't seen you around here before" he spoke leaning closer to me to examine my face. "Are you sure you over 18? you look a little young. I'm the owner of this place, did one of my underground fighters invite you?" he asked bombarding me with questions. I gaped up at him strangely before looking up at a banner on top of the room which said ' _Underground fighting tournament'. Underground fighting was illegal in many cities in the US and Miami was certainly one of them. It was at that moment that I knew I had to get out of here._

I turned around to look at Austin to see him looking back at me with a shocked expression. Without hesitation, he quickly pushed past the crowd of people to make his way over to me. His eyes were filled with so much rage and intensity that I'd be lying if I said that it didn't scare me a little. "Yo, Austin man you know this girl?" the guy, who was supposedly the owner questioned, but he was briefly ignored as Austin grabbed onto my wrist tightly before pulling me over to the front door as people turned to look at us.

"Hey, let go of me!" I groaned trying to struggle out of his tight grip, but he was just too strong. I was about to reach into my pocket to pull out his locket, but before I could, he had quickly opened the door and shoved me outside, causing me to stumble back a little. He clenched his jaw tightly and took a step towards me, and before I knew it, he had spoke up, which shook me a little as I never heard the sound of his voice until then. "Do me a favor and stay out of my way" he said in a low and strict tone. His voice was hoarse, deep and raspy, which I never expected. As he finished his sentence, he gave me one last cold look before turning around to head back inside, making sure to slam the door shut behind him.

I clenched my fists tightly trying to hold in my anger before turning around to walk down the pavement. Several seconds later, I heard footsteps rushing up to me and I quickly turned around to see the guy that had stopped me inside. "So I'm guessing you're not a friend of Austin's huh?" he asked, chuckling a little afterwards. I rolled my eyes about to walk off again, but before I could he quickly pulled me back by my arm. "Its rude to walk away from people who are older than you, besides I wanna talk to you" he said, causing me to roll my eyes as he was probably only 4-5 years older.

"Look I'm just trying to get home okay... its the last time I do something nice for that jerk" I muttered the last bit under my breath before crossing my arms above my chest.

"Yeah he is a jerk, but he's the bravest motherfucker I've ever met" he sighed placing his hand on his hips. "I'm guessing you go to his school huh? are you one of those people who believe everything you hear about him?" he chuckled leaving me a little lost for words. "Listen my underground fighting tournament is illegal and if any cops finds out I'll probably go to jail again, but I'm more worried about Austin this time. I don't want him to fucking miss out on another year of school because of me, I want him to graduate senior year and go onto do some shit that'll actually make him happy for the rest of his life, so I need you not to tell anyone about what you just saw in there" he stated briefly.

"I'm not gonna tell anybody... but how long has he been doing it?" I asked a little eagered.

He looked around the place for a brief second before turning his attention back down to me. "Look I can't tell you much, all I can say is that he's been fighting for a long time. Its his fucking job, due to his criminal record it was hard to for him to find a proper job so he turned to this and he gets a decent amount of money for it" he explained before pausing a short while. "Look you go to school with Austin and you know he ain't no talkative type. I've known him for three years and I'm lucky if I'm able to get a sentence out of him. He doesn't like to talk very much and he likes to be on his own too... he's just been through a whole lot, and I'm like an older brother to him so the least I can do is make sure that he's fucking happy you know" he said before slipping his hands inside his pockets.

I lowered my heard for a brief moment to think about everything he just said, before looking back up to see him holding out his hand for a taxi. Before I could open my mouth to speak, a taxi quickly pulled up in front of us and he quickly rushed over to open the backseat for me. "Thank you" I smiled going to step inside. I looked back up to see him handing the taxi driver some money to take me home and I had tried to stop him due to my pride but he insisted. "Don't worry about it, I'm just trusting you not to say anything about Austin" he said before stepping back. "I'm Trent by the way" he smiled briefly.

"Thank you again I'm Ally" I replied waving goodbye to him as the taxi slowly drove off.

I had expected him to be nothing but dangerous as he was in charge of an illegal underground fighting, but he was the complete opposite, which also made me to realize how people were wrong about Austin.

* * *

 _ **Here is the second chapter to Never** **Let Me Go and I really hope y'all enjoyed it, don't forget to review. For those of you wondering Trent is 22 years old and will also be a recurring and important character in the story.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

It was a late Saturday afternoon and I was over at Trish's house with Dez.

I sat in the living room beside Dez as I watched Trish's mom and dad; Maria and Rodrigo, tell a story of how they first met. I had been by their house a few times that week and they always made me feel so welcome, more welcome than I ever felt. Even though they had been married for a long time, they were a happy couple with a happy family and nothing could take that away from them. Ever since arriving in Miami, I had been surrounded by good people, people that I felt comfortable with and trusted more than my own family, and as each day passed, I found myself slowly thinking about the life I had in Washington.

I glanced over at Trish who sat opposite us along with her brother JJ, as she chuckled along to her parent's story. I looked up at Dez to see him laughing hysterically and I couldn't help but smile as I placed my hand on his shoulders. Turning to look around at everybody once more, it felt utterly surreal how I could feel so happy around people who I had only met not too long ago.

"I never get tired of hearing that story ma" said Trish before getting up and going to place a kiss on her dad's cheek, who was in a wheelchair. "You want something to eat papa? lets go" she uttered before wheeling him towards the kitchen. Her mother smiled as she watched her husband and daughter head towards the direction of the kitchen. Sometimes I wondered how Trish had the strength to be by Dez's side all these years due to his disorder, any other person would have lost their minds or ran away from it all in a heartbeat, but after a while I had quickly realized it was because of how caring she was to her family. Sometimes I wished that I had the strength that she possessed to do it all, I wish I had her strength not to give up easily on certain things that I couldn't control, but looking back at it now, I couldn't be like her, she was a one of a kind person and I wasn't close to being like that.

"Trish, remember you're going to visit your aunt Veronica in prison today, its been a while since you visited, you can take your friends with you if you want" Maria yelled before turning her attention to JJ, who sat on the sofa watching TV."JJ, go upstairs and clean your room or there wouldn't be any dinner for you, I've told you a million times" she scolded whilst placing her hand on her hips.

"It isn't that dirty" JJ groaned placing his hand on the side of her head. Maria raised an eyebrow whilst holding a stern look on her face causing JJ to quickly get up from the sofa. "Fine ma" he groaned, before dragging his feet on the carpet and towards the stairs.

As he headed up the stairs, Maria grabbed a large photo album of the shelf before walking over to sit besides Dez and I. She wrapped one arm around Dez before opening up the photo album. "You know Ally, Trish hasn't had many friends that usually last, Dez has been her only friend since they were very little... she doesn't let anybody in, but when she first introduced me to you a couple days ago, I was happy. Trish is very lucky to have you both" she smiled before sending me a wink. "Thank you, Maria" I said flashing a smile back at her.

She flicked through the photo album showing me pictures of her and Dez together from their Kindergarten days to high school. It was truly incredible to see how much they had stuck by each other through all the years. As Maria and Dez chatted on about a particular memory from middle school, I took the photo album from her continuing to flick through, until I stopped at a particular page. It was a picture of Trish at her middle school prom standing next to a guy who I assumed was her date. I smiled at how ecstatic she looked before noticing that her date seemed oddly familiar. I stared at him closely whilst furrowing my eyebrows till it finally hit me.

"I should go check on Trish and her father, I'll be right back" Maria uttered before getting up to walk towards the kitchen.

I looked up and Dez and quickly scooted over to him before placing the photo album on his lap for him to see. "Is that... is that Dallas?" I questioned eagerly looking closely at him. Even though his hair was a little long and he had braces, I could still tell that it was him. Dez gazed back at the kitchen door before turning to nod his head at me. "Don't tell Trish I told you, but her and Dallas used to date in middle school, she liked him a lot but when we became freshmen's he dumped her just to be popular... now he treats us like crap, you saw the way he spoke to her in the cafeteria the other day" he explained shocking me a little. I never would've guessed that they had history together, due to the fact of their social statuses in school. "Sometimes I just feel like she's stuck with me, maybe if she wasn't seen with a loser like me all the time then maybe her and Dallas wouldn't have broken up and maybe she wouldn't be so worried about me all the time" he sighed, whilst slowly lowering his head.

I stared up at him a little morosely before slowly pulling his head down on my shoulder. "You shouldn't have to feel that way Dez, Trish loves you and she definitely doesn't think of you as a burden, you're one of the most important people to her" I muttered quietly. He lifted his head from his shoulder to smile down at me and I quickly smiled back, before narrowing my eyes over to Trish who strolled out the kitchen and over to us.

"What are you guys looking at?" she asked grabbing the photo album of Dez's lap. As she glanced down at the photo, her normally calm and pleasant demeanor slowly changed and her face contorted in an all consuming anger; her nostrils flaring, her eyes flashing and closing into slits. After a brief moment, she quickly shut the book before placing it back down on the table. Her face was glazed for a split-second and then she frowned. Her lips pursed together and her eyes unblinking, at that moment, if her eyes were a weapon, the piercing look in them could have caused serious destruction. She stayed quiet for a little while in deep thought about something. I could see in Dez's face that he didn't want to bother her at that moment, almost as if he knew just how angry she could really get.

"Are you okay?" I asked, finally breaking the silence between us.

She glanced over at me with a dazed and almost puzzled expression before rapidly nodding her head and turning to face Dez. "Uhm yeah... lets just go, I have to visit my aunt Veronica anyway" she said in a small sigh before picking up her car keys and strolling out the door. I looked over at Isabella who leaned on the kitchen door frame watching what had just happened, before getting up from the sofa alongside Dez and following after Trish.

As we got to her car, I sat in the passenger seat before looking back at Dez who sat gazing over at Trish worriedly. "Uhm listen..." she murmured speaking up. "Dallas and I went out a long time ago, I've moved on since then... I mean it was like five fucking years ago" she stated before quickly starting her car. She peered back at Dez and smiled before doing the same to me. "Oh god, you deserved a lot better..." I chuckled causing her to do the same. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from under her driver's seat and handed one over to me before driving off.

A while later, we were driving through town till I spotted a book store I hadn't quite come across till then. Feeling overly excited, I had told Trish to immediately pull over before throwing my cigarette out the window and rushing out the car.

"Hey Ally wait up!" they called rushing after me as I rushed inside the book store. As I stepped inside, I was completely fascinated and enthralled seeing so many different books, and the idea of having my own work published one day was one of the things that brought joy to my life. I looked back at Trish to see her tossing her cigarette outside due to the no smoking sign before strolling inside to join Dez and I. I hadn't told them that I wanted to be an author yet and I wasn't sure when the time would come, but I was certain because I knew that whatever happened they wouldn't judge me or dismiss what I had chosen to do in life. "Gosh Ally, I never knew you liked books so much, I thought you had seen something serious" she groaned turning to look around, until her eyes landed on something.

I quickly followed her gaze to see that she was staring at the guy over at the counter. I watched as he smoked a cigarette in boredom, not caring that there was a no smoking policy inside. I chuckled to myself as he briefly ignored a customer who came up to ask him a question, before finally noticing where I had seen him from. I stood there for several seconds, deciding whether to go say hello, till his eyes finally landed over at me. At first he was shocked and a little confused, but after a while he shrugged it off before signalling for me to come over and so I did, with the others following from behind.

"Ally! never thought I'd see you so soon" he smirked placing his cigarette down on the desk.

"You too Trent" I smiled before looking back at Trish Dez as they looked back at me puzzled wondering how I had known him, and of course I couldn't tell them the truth. "Uhm guys this is Trent... he used to work at this other book store across town and borrowed me a book once" I stated making up a ridiculous lie. I surely couldn't tell them that he was in charge of an illegal underground fighting club and was close friends with Austin, after he had told me not to tell anyone what I had saw, besides, I wasn't prepared to deal with their questions on how all of this had came about.

Trent sent me a sly wink for covering up for him, before looking behind me at Trish. He sent her a soft smile and she quickly smiled back before looking over at me with an eye raised , signalling for me to introduce her. I chuckled and playfully rolled my eyes before speaking up. "These are my friend Trish and Dez, they go to school with me" I introduced briefly. "Nice to meet y'all" Trent smiled waving at the both of them before turning back to face me. After greeting him back, they slowly walked away to look at some of the books at the back leaving Trent and I alone.

I noticed his eyes fixated on Trish as she helped Dez pick out a book for Dez before picking up his cigarette and opening the desk for me to step inside. "Nice cover up there, this is like my second job, it sucks but it kinda helps pay the bills" he whispered before looking around to see if anybody was listening in.

I looked up at him for a brief while before pulling out Austin's locket from my pocket and handing it over to him. "I saw him drop this the night I accidentally wondered into your... you know" I muttered looking back at Trish and Dez. "I wanted to give it back to him the next day but he hasn't been in school all week so I thought you could give it to him. I'm sure he's been looking for it everywhere and I feel sorta guilty" I said. He looked down at the locket in my hands before sighing and cussing under his breath. "Listen, I would love to give it back to him but I haven't seen him since Tuesday either and besides I'm going away for a couple days... I went to his apartment yesterday to check on him but he wasn't there and I've tried calling him several times but he won't pick up. This isn't the first time he's disappeared like this without letting me know where the fuck he's going" he hissed before placing his hand on his hips, almost as if he was thinking of what to do.

"I think you should wait to give it back to him yourself since I won't be here for a couple days" he uttered before slowly closing my hand up with the locket. "That thing means a lot to him so make sure not to lose it alright" he said and I quickly nodded before placing it back inside my pocket.

"Who's Aaron?" I asked referring back to the name written on the locket.

Trent placed his cigarette back in his mouth and sat down on the seat behind the desk before speaking up. "His little brother... he died a couple years ago" he replied not wanting to go into much detail with I respected.

Moments later, Trish quickly walked up to me. "Ally, are you ready to go?" she asked blushing a little as Trent gazed up at her intently. "Yeah, see you later Trent" I smiled before walking out of the desk and turning around to wave goodbye to him. He winked at me and turned to nod his head at Trish, who nodded her head back at him before quickly grabbing onto my arm and pulling me towards the door over to Dez who stood waiting besides the car.

"Well... he seemed very friendly" she said walking over to the driver's seat.

"Most people aren't that friendly, Trish... I think he found you attractive" I chuckled, looking back at Dez who blissfully nodded his head agreeing with me.

Trish looked at the both of us in disbelief before rolling her eyes and stepping inside the car. "Attractive? yeah right, you don't have to lie to me Ally" she scoffed before placing a cigarette between her lips and starting up the car. I guess in a way without realizing it she was somewhat like me. We were both confident and outspoken people but deep down, no matter how much confidence we brought out, we couldn't ignore all the flaws we saw whenever we looked into the mirror. Even though I was used to talking down on myself when no one was around, I definitely didn't want the same for Trish.

* * *

~Half an hour later, we arrived at the town's female police station.

Trish turned of the engine and sighed to herself before turning to look back at Dez. "Dez wait here alright, Ally and I will be back soon, we won't be too long" she smiled before unbuckling her seat belts and stepping out the car. I dived into my handbag and brought out some chocolate bars before handing it over to Dez. "Here, in case you get hungry" I said and he smiled at me before taking it of my hand. I watched as he opened and took a bite out of it before stepping out the car.

"Why didn't you let him come with us?" I asked looking back at the car as we slowly walked towards the station.

"The last time we came to visit my aunt was in the summer last year and... lets just say my aunt Veronica isn't the most pleasant people. She sorta joked around with Dez's disorder and made fun of him and Dez freaked out in front of everyone. It was difficult to get him under control after that so I can't let that happen again" she explained.

After checking in at the reception, we were sitting at the waiting room along with other friends and family who anxiously waited of the sight of their loved ones.

I glanced closely at the cold and lifeless walls before looking over at all the police officers who stood guarding the place. I could almost sense the impatience with everybody in the room as we waited for what seemed like forever. the panic looks on their faces arose, because they had no idea how their loved ones were coping in a place like this, fear sparked inside them, because they didn't know if they would be okay in the end, and most of all the feeling of regret overtook their body language of all the times they might have probably missed with them. The room was silent, but the sound was deafening. The incessant beating of people's hearts reverberated through their body like the death beat of tribal drums. Feeling somehow exhausted, I sank into the worn leather seats, indented with years of heavy anticipation and anguish. The air stank of nerves, fear and chlorine as each passing moment felt like an eternity.

"I wonder how Dez is doing" I spoke up turning to look around the room, it almost felt as if me speaking was a crime, due to the deafening silence that lingered in the room. "Thanks for everything you've done for him so far Ally and always being there for him and I, you're a great friend" she said before placing her head down on my shoulder. I smiled to myself before slowly and gently stroking her hair.

We sat waiting for another 10-15 minutes, till we heard the sound of the door creaking open and the sound of heavy footsteps walking into the room. I slowly turned my head around to see inmates going over to sit with their family and friends in an excited manner. I couldn't help but smile at some of the happy tears shared between some families who had probably waited to see their loves ones for god knows how long. I had never seen such a scene and it was a special memory that I would never forget.

After looking around at everybody, I turned my head back around to see a short woman with long dark hair and sharp, dark, striking eyes taking a seat in front of us. She had different tribal tattoos running down her arms and on her face. She reminded me of one of those dangerous villains that I would normally see in action movies but I wasn't so quick to judge, despite how brutal and terrifying she looked. She leaned back in his chair before flashing a warm smile over at Trish, who slowly lifted her head from my shoulder. She looked down at her watch and sighed to herself before looking across from him with an almost 'lets get this over with' look. I then began to wonder what he was in for.

"Hola Sobrina, you look well, how's your mama and papa?" she asked leaning further towards her.

Trish looked closely at her tattoos almost as if she had never seen them before turning to face me with a forced smile. "Ally, this is my aunt Veronica, he was involved in a lot of illegal drug activity and was part of a gang who thought it was a good idea to go around and steal from rich people's homes and now she's in here for another 10 years" she said in a sarcastic tone causing him smile to slowly drop. "Uncle Hector, this is my new friend Ally, if you're wandering where Dez is its because you kinda fucking scared him and made fun of something he can't control last time so he kinda hates your fucking guts, a little" she chuckled before clasping her hands together and turning to look down at her watch once more.

Veronica leaned back in her seat as he scowled over at Trish who held an un-bothered look on her face. "You come here to fucking disrespect me ha?" she hissed whilst quietly banging her handcuffed hands on the table as I sat a little awkwardly to myself.

"I came here because mama told me to tell you to stop sending papa letters. He doesn't want to be reminded about his disappointment of a little sister who used all his money 10 years ago just for drugs instead of starting a life" she shrugged and with that they began to argue, drawing in some attention from people in the room and leaving me in an uncomfortable position as I sat not knowing what to do.

As Trish and her uncle continued arguing, I looked over at a middle aged woman inmate who sat in front of us looking around the room. Her blonde her was scattered a little over the place and she held a lost and devastated look in her eye as she continued looking around. Maybe she was looking for her family or friend who had failed to come, I thought to myself as I rested my hand on my palm gazing at her.

She didn't say anything, and she didn't need to. One look in her deep brown eyes told me everything. I could almost see the sorrow and grief in her eyes as clearly as if she was speaking her thoughts and emotions aloud. Suddenly there was an aura of grey around her as she lowered her head, probably coming to terms that the person she was waiting for might not show. It was a mist that wouldn't rise. A state of depression that she couldn't see herself through. It was as if a giant boulder was laid on her and she couldn't straighten up or catch her breath entirely. She should have been crying, because the look that plastered all over her face was to distressful not to, but she was too numb to even think about crying. As she lowered her head staring down at her handcuffed hands with a look of regret, I began to wonder what her story was. What got her in here in the first place? how long had she been in here? would she ever get out?. After a while, she had looked up and suddenly a smile had quickly spread across her face, it was a smile that was long awaiting as I could tell it had been a while since she smiled.

I saw someone slowly take a seat in front of her and my eyes slowly widened. I didn't need for him to turn around to know that it was him because his blonde shaggy hair had given it away. For some reason my heart started to beat at the sight of him and I wasn't really sure why.

The bickering with Trish and her aunt hadn't stopped till then, in fact it had only gotten worse, but despite their arguing, I moved my seat closer to get a better look and listen on Austin and the woman, who looked a lot like him. I watched closely as she moved her hands to touch his, but before she could, he slowly moved his hand back before leaning back on his seat, and the despair look on her face from before had quickly came back, but this time much worse. They sat in silence for a long while, it was almost seemed as if they were strangers who hadn't known each other until then, but I knew that wasn't the case as I could sense the deep story behind their relationship.

"I thought you wouldn't come" the woman spoke with her voice breaking on every word. "How have you been since you got out?... are you living comfortably?" she asked hopefully, but he did not respond which only left her more broken. "Are you eating well?" she asked, no answer. "Have you made some proper friends from High School and found a good job?" she asked, but still no answer. She lowered her head for a brief while, before looking up several seconds later. It wasn't hard to spot the tears desperately waiting to fall from her eyes as she pleaded for him to answer her questions. "Please say something son... its been two years since I've heard what you sound like... y-you stopped slowly coming to visit me and- and its all my fault... please say something honey" she begged desperately placing her hand over his before he could move it away.

Although I couldn't see Austin's expression as his back was turned to me, I could somehow sense the feeling of regret and misery radiating from his body as tears started to slowly fall down his mother's cheek. It was something that I wasn't expecting to see that day. As they sat in silence with her sobbing silently to herself, it was then that I realized I wanted to know more about him. I remember Trent telling me that he had been through a whole lot and I wanted to know his story after finding out his mother was in prison. I couldn't begin to imagine how he had felt all these years knowing that there was nothing he could do to get her out of there.

"When are you getting out?" he finally spoke up, causing my stomach to churn. Somehow hearing the sound of his voice seemed to do something to my insides.

Her head quickly shot up at the sound of her son's voice and her tears had stopped flowing. She gazed directly at him for a while, almost as if she was making sure to savor in all the details of his face as she knew she wouldn't be seeing him for a while after today. After sighing to herself and clearing her throat she finally spoke up. "Not for another 10-15 years..." she stated causing him to quickly snatch his hand back from her. "I-I'm sorry I lied to you before Austin, I know I said that I'd be out soon but I only said that for you to stop worrying... you don't know how I feel knowing that you're suffering each and everyday because of me, I know that-

"You don't know anything... stop fucking pretending like you know what I'm going threw... this was a mistake" he spoke with a little anger in his voice, which had caused her to flinch.

"Honey, I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry please-" before she could finish her sentence, Austin ran his fingers through his hair before getting up from his chair and kicking it away which caused silence to quickly spread throughout the room. He ran his hands through his face and without looking back at his mom, he turned around to walk away but stopped as he saw me. His eyes widened in shock and he stared at me in disbelief for a small while, before his shock initially turned to anger. I noticed his fist clenched tightly as he quickly stormed away ignoring his mom calling his name. I turned around to look at him as he exited the door before turning to look back at his mom who covered her face with her hands before a police officer came to take her away back to her cell.

"Was that Austin?" Trish asked looking at me with her mouth wide open and I quickly nodded. I wasn't sure what came over me, but something inside wanted to go after him. I knew that it was a bad idea seeing how angry he looked, but that feeling overpowered the other which had told me to forget it all and stay far away from him as I possibly could.

"Trish lets go" I said getting up and pulling her with me before she could say another word to her aunt. I grabbed onto her hand and ran out the waiting room and the police station and over to the parking lot to see next to his motorcycle with his head low and his hand covering his face. I stopped dead in my tracks and took a deep breath. I couldn't even begin to imagine the feeling he must have felt right then and I didn't blame him for doing what he did.

I looked over at Trish's car noticing that Dez wasn't inside waiting and I quickly turned to look down at her. "Where's Dez?" I asked a little worriedly.

"Relax, he just texted me saying he went to buy some food from the supermarket across the street" she explained before showing me the text message and pointing across the street to the supermarket.

I took a deep breath of relief and ran my fingers through my hair before turning to look at Austin. "Wow... I didn't know he had a mom who was in prison... that was the first time I've ever had him speak too I think" she said gazing over at him. I squeezed onto her hand tightly before letting go and pulling out the locket from my pocket. "I have to give something back to him" I said before slowly taking a deep breath and walking over to him. As I walked further and further, my palms became sweaty and I felt my pulse quicken. The anxiety that I had suddenly developed because of him, curled into my stomach, hands clawing up my throat and choking me letting the words I had practiced in my head on what I was going to say to him be dragged back down my throat and dissolved into the acid of my belly, but all I could worry about at that very moment was making sure to keep my knees from buckling under the weight of my wobbly body. I don't think I had ever been so nervous to talk to somebody before.

As I anxiously stood behind him, I quickly turned to look back at Trish to see Dez walking over to her with a confused look on his face on what I was doing. I turned my head around to him and was about to speak up till he quickly cut me off. "What do you want?..." he asked quietly, almost as if he could feel my presence which was weird since we weren't around each other all the time.

"Everywhere I go I keep running into you. I don't want you to think that I'm stalking you because I'm not" I spoke holding the locket up in my hands and taking another short intake of a deep breath. Several seconds later, he slowly turned around to face me, with his mouth hanging low at the sight of his locket in my hands. In a swift motion, he quickly snatched it of me and took a step back. "Where did you get this?" he asked furiously. I stared up at him willingly. Although his actions were speaking aloud, his eyes were saying something completely different. "Well, I-

"Forget it, just stay the fuck away from me" he hissed not giving me a chance to explain.

My eyes began to quickly harden and my face began to drop as he turned his back to me again to grab his helmet of his motorcycle. I was about to go off, till I heard footsteps from behind me and quickly turned back to see Trish and Dez. "Uhm Ally... what's going on?" Trish asked quietly before looking up at Dez who gazed over at Austin a little skeptical. "I'll go wait in the car" he muttered looking back at Austin before turning around to walk away.

"You know maybe I should've left your locket and not cared to pick it up, that way you wouldn't have gotten it back" I hissed, whilst crossing my arms above my chest. I wasn't expecting him to turn around and say thank you, due to the cold and heartless person I knew he was, but somehow deep down, I still hoped that he would've at least turned around to acknowledge me. As he climbed on his motorcycle, I balled up my fist angrily before rolling my eyes away. "Lets just go Trish" I said quietly before turning around and what I saw next was something I wasn't expecting. A group of people, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere had ran up to Dez without him knowing and covered his mouth with a cloth before dragging him back to their van and stuffing him inside before anybody else could notice.

"Dez!" Trish and I screamed in unison as we ran after the van, but before we could get to it, it had quickly drove away. We began to panic as the van drove further down the street ignoring the traffic lights. What just happened? who were those people? millions of questions flew through my mind as my heart began to beat quickly. Somehow I suddenly found it hard to breath.

As Trish quickly got out her phone to call the police, I looked over at Austin to see him looking back at the van flabbergasted. He jumped out of his motorcycle and placed his helmet to the side before looking down at the ground. Just by the look on his face, it didn't take me long to figure out that he knew exactly who those people were.

* * *

 _ **Little cliff hanger there. Who do you think took Dez and what relation do they have with Austin? find out in the next chapter. If you also enjoyed this chapter don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

"Wait a minute Trish" I spoke stopping her from pressing dial on the police. "I think he know who just took him" I muttered gazing over at Austin who ran his hand down his face frustratingly. Trish looked at me a little unsure, but considering what had just happened she had no time to think, and considering how much Dez meant to her, it could only mean trouble. Without hesitation, she quickly marched over to Austin and grabbed hold of his shirt as she bombarded him with many different questions.

As people passing by start to watch the scene unfold, I quickly hurried over to them to pull Trish away from him. "You psycho bitch!" Austin yelled stepping back away from her to fix his shirt.

"I'm a psycho? fuck you!" she yelled going to charge at him again, but before she could I had quickly held her back. "That's rich coming from the mute who went to jail last year and missed his fucking graduation, only to come back and terrorize people. You dare call me a psycho when the only expression you have on your face is misery and more misery. You wander why people are so fucking scared of you? its because you have no emotion!, you're heartless, you're a fucking creep and a sad nobody! now you tell me where those guys took Dez or I'll make sure you go right back to jail where you belong!" she yelled. Even though her words were harsher than harsh, I guess I really couldn't blame her. We had just witnessed Dez get taken away by a couple of random people and she had no idea what to think, which allowed her to take her anger and frustration out on Austin.

As Trish had finished her explosive rant, I noticed his face instantly become red, and was slowly turning shades of crimson and even a tinge purple, whilst sort of an unearthly, demonic look overcame him. His breathing became strange, sort of ragged. I noticed as he tried in vain to control himself, but his anger still sparked through the air giving me a cold jolt in my chest- fear. At that particular moment all I saw was rage and it was the first time that I truly felt terrified of him. The expression on his face was un-explainable, it was deadly, dangerous. The air had instantly felt like a ticking time bomb, which hesitantly waited for him to explode at any moment. I noticed his eyes bulge out and a vein throbbing on his throat. He looked as if he was ready to strike and scream, but something in him wouldn't allow him to, something that I didn't quite understand just yet, but would come to very soon.

Trish, who stood next to me with her arms crossed had began to notice the look of pure rage and terror plastered all over Austin's face as he held himself back from going off, and it had caused her to slowly take a step back and lower her head. It was as if as she saw the look on his face, fear had instantly struck her, and she had instantly regretted saying all those things to spite him.

After a while, Austin raised his hand up to run down his face. I noticed how his fingers had trembled rapidly as he did so, which meant that there was still some anger left in him. I looked back at Trish who was still utterly terrified before slowly taking a step towards him. I was scared to even utter a word due to the fact that I had no idea what he might do, but at that point, I truly had no choice. I cleared my throat and joined my hands together before speaking up. "Uhm... I'm sorry about everything she said, we really care about Dez a lot and don't really know what to do right now. If you know who those guys are who took him, please help us find him and we won't ask you for anything else" I pleaded before clasping my hands together and gazing up at me.

I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but as soon as I had finished speaking, I noticed his eyes slowly soften, which shocked me a little as I only ever saw him with cold and hard eyes. He stared down at me almost as if he were in deep thought about something before looking back at his motorcycle. To my surprise, he quickly stuffed his keys in his back pockets before looking over at Trish's car, which was parked on the other side of the car park. "I need your car keys, I know where they took him, I'll drive you there" he said with a little hesitance, whilst also avoiding looking at Trish due to how angry she had made him earlier. I could tell that he wasn't used to talking a lot on a daily like this and it somehow made him a little tense and uncomfortable.

Trish looked up at me a little unsure, almost as if she didn't trust him at all before speaking up. "Uhm are you sure of what you're saying, who were those guys anyway?" she asked crossing her arms above her chest. Austin shot her a stern and serious look ignoring her question and she wasted no time, quickly bringing out her car keys from her pocket before throwing it over at him.

He looked back at his motorcycle before walking over to Trish's car and we slowly followed from behind. I wouldn't say we fully trusted him at that moment, but we simply had no choice. As we arrived towards the car, Austin quickly opened the driver's seat and stepped inside. I watched as Trish rushed over to the backseat not wanting to sit besides him and I sighed to myself before slowly opening the passenger door and taking a seat besides him. It was kinda weird seeing him inside a car since I was used to seeing him drive around in a motorcycle. He waited till we were all strapped and buckled in with our seat belts before starting the car and driving off.

During the car ride, I would take quick glances at him and quickly look away to make sure that he wouldn't notice. He was so focused, so captivating that sometimes it was hard to simply look away. Even though he was helping us to find Dez, I could tell there was still a lot of his mind. I could tell that he was thinking about his mother, and some other things that I didn't quite know about yet. I looked back at Trish to see her gazing out her window before looking up at Austin. He turned his head to glance at me and we held eye contact for a solid 2-3 seconds before he quickly turned his attention back to the road. I never noticed how gorgeous he was until then, his face was still so emotionless and so full of mystery, but he was still so beautiful. I shifted my eyes away from him and pressed my head against the glass window as we continued driving in silence, with neither Trish and I wanting or needing to utter a word as it was out first time alone with the school's most talked about notorious bad boy. Even though we were in complete silence, as he drove further and further, I was starting to see that some rumors people had made up about it were false and I knew that she could see it too, even though she would never admit it.

"Uh just to let you know, Austin..." Trish spoke up, causing me to turn back to her. "I hope that those people aren't gonna do anything to hurt him. Dez suffers from Intermittent explosive disorder, meaning that he can't control whenever he gets angry and ends up having a serious mental breakdown..." she explained gazing at him closely, almost as if she was trying to study him closely or make out who he really was.

"I know" he uttered shocking us a little.

"You do?" I asked gazing up at him a little gobsmacked. "How?" Trish asked raising an eye at him.

As the red light came up on the traffic light, Austin quickly stopped the car. He paused for a brief while as his attention focused on the road before he finally spoke up. "My little brother suffered from that same disorder and I could see the symptoms in Dez... I have three classes with him every week" he explained before starting up the car and driving of again as the light turned green, and I couldn't help but smile. Every lesson, I would think he wasn't paying attention to anyone due to the fact that he was always staring out the window. I didn't think that he even knew the names of anyone in class, but to my surprise he had been paying attention all along, even to all the people who call him names and treat him as if he were a monster. I had just seen a new side to him that I wasn't expecting in the slightest bit.

Trish stared at him for a brief while until a gusmile slowly came creeping up on her face. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" she asked leaning closer to him. "Is this the most words you've spoken in a while?" she asked before turning to glance over at me.

"This is the most words I've spoken in years" he muttered, taking one glance at me before going back to being silent throughout the car ride. He was like a whole different person that I certainly wasn't expecting, but I knew after this that things would go back to how it would used to be and he would go back to letting everybody think he was indeed a monster. Something inside told me that it was a safer way for him to live life, but that could've all been in my head.

 _~A while later._

We arrived outside a strange warehouse at the middle of an unknown place downtown.

"Is this where they took him?" Trish asked gazing out the window with a puzzled look. Austin ignored her before turning of the engine and throwing her car keys back to her. "You two should wait out here, its dangerous" he warned in a quiet voice before pushing the door and stepping outside.

I watched as he quickly hurried towards the warehouse and I couldn't help but smile. He didn't know us and we didn't know him, and yet he was going through lengths. I turned back to face Trish who sat there bewildered not understanding at all what was going on. "So what... is he gonna go save him? and are we just suppose to sit here till she gets back?" she questioned before letting out a deep and frustrated sigh. "Of course not" I said quickly throwing on my brown leather jacket. "We can't just sit here and wait, Dez was basically kidnapped, and Austin might need our help in case something happens" I stated before pushing the door open and stepping out the car as Trish followed in from me. We looked up at the warehouse before holding each other's hands for comfort and rushing towards the back in the direction that Austin headed in.

As we arrived at the back of the warehouse, which was surrounded by scattered leaves and dangerous weapons. We walked around for a little while till we found a window in which we quickly got on our tip toes to peak in. Inside the warehouse was Austin, who stood across the group of people who had kidnapped Austin, but there was no sign of Dez anywhere. I looked around at all the guys who stood opposite Austin with a regretful and nervous expression. Even though there were six of them and one of him, they still looked quite frightened of him, which made me think even more to just how 'dangerous' he really was. I scanned the room till I spotted a girl who looked to be in her late teens- early 20's as she leaned on the wall with her arms crossed whilst gazing over at Austin with a teary and hurt expression. She had long hair and was fairly slim not to mention also beautiful.

I continue to stare at her for a brief while, till I hear someone speak and quickly look back up to who I assumed to be the leader of the gang. He took a step closer to Austin and held a scowl and bitter look on his face before speaking up again. "Answer me? I asked why the fuck did you come here?" he questioned balling up his fists in anger. Austin placed his hands down to his side as he remained silence not saying a single word and I could tell that it began to aggravate him even more. "Say something you piece of shit!" he yelled causing an echo to erupt throughout the room.

"That guy you took earlier... I need him back" he muttered shocking everyone in the room as they probably weren't used to him talking either.

"So you can speak huh?" the leader of the gang mocked, but Austin's expression refused to change. "Listen Austin, when you got out of jail last year you left us, your left your family and you don't know how much that pissed me off. When you joined us you took an oath that you will never leave, you swore on your motherfucking life that you would be with us till you die. Are you forgetting everything I did for you and your dead brother? and this is how you wanna repay me? by walking out on us and going back to High School?, you don't need school man c'mon" he scoffed as everyone began to laugh. "You walked out on us and that's something that you can't do. Here's the deal, you come back to us and we'll give you back your weird looking friend".

Austin lowered his head slightly for a little while almost as if he was planning on what to do before speaking up. "He's not my friend" he uttered briefly.

"What?... we saw you talking to him and those other two girls at the parking lot, are you trying to fuck with my head by playing your usual mind games dude?" he asked raising his voice at him.

"If you wanted to kidnap someone and use them in getting me to come back then maybe you should've checked if they're my friends or not, he and those girls just happen to go to my School, Jason... I thought you were an expert in these kinda things" now it was his turn to mock him. As Austin finished his sentence, Jason had got ready to charge at him but was quickly held back by the rest of them. "I made you, you piece of shit. You can't just walk out on me however you like, you seem to be forgetting who the fuck I am, Austin" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Jason stop it, stop yelling at him" the girl cried going over to hold him back by the arm. After he had supposedly calm down, she breathed out a deep sigh and ran her fingers through her long blonde hair before turning around to face Austin who looked back at her. She wiped away the tear that didn't know had fell down her eyes, before slowly walking up to him. I watched almost at the edge of my seat, as she lightly and gently placed one hand on his chest before placing the other behind his neck. She gazed up at him with sincerity in her eyes which left me with a million questions flying through my head. For some reason, I felt my stomach churn as I watched her press her body against his, leaving no space between them. Before I knew it, she had quickly got on her tip toes to place a light kiss on his lips. He didn't respond to the kiss neither did he push her away either, which left me puzzled on the status of their relationship.

After a while, she slowly pulled away from the kiss to sulk up at him at the cold treatment he was giving her. She was probably 2-4 years older than me, but the way she seeked for his attention was almost like a toddler seeking for its parent's attention. "I think that's his girlfriend" said Trish whispering quietly as I stood in silence, my eyes not being able to leave the both of them.

"What's wrong? Is there someone else you like? why won't you just come back?" she asked bombarding him with many different questions. "Today is the first time I've heard you say anything to me in months, you can't ignore me now, baby" she squirmed cupping his cheeks to get him to look down at her.

Austin slowly removed her hands away from his face before taking a step back away from her, which had left her utterly broken. "Piper... I told you its over, please let me go" he said bluntly ignoring her broken and devastated expression before turning his attention back to Jason. "I'll come back... just let him go" he said almost in a pleading tone.

Before Jason could speak up, I heard someone quickly cut him off and I quickly turn my head to look across the room at Trent, who walked out from a corner with a terrified looking Dez following from behind him. "Wait... isn't that the guy we saw at the book store earlier?" she asked puzzled at the sight of Trent as I wandered how he could've found us. I looked down at her anxiously before looking back inside the room to see all of the guys except Jason hold a gun over at Trent. Instead of looking absoulutely terrified which any normal person would be, he laughed to himself at all the sight of guns being pointed at him. "You really have lost your fucking mind Jason. You kidnap an innocent kid who had nothing to do with this and tie him up just to get Austin back?... I'm not gonna let you fucking ruin his life any longer with your bullshit, if I see your near him or near those girls you saw him with today, I'll kill you, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart" he spoke threateningly as Jason's fear began to overtake his anger, causing him to take a step back from Trent.

Trent held a stern look on his face before turning around to face Austin who raised an eye at him, signalling as to how he had known he was here. "I have my sources man, I know whenever you in trouble. Lets just get out here" Trent replied briefly.

As the three of them stepped outside, Trish and I quickly rushed over towards the front to give Dez a big hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, oh I was so worried" Trish exclaimed whilst squeezing him tightly. Austin and Trent watched as the three of us hugged for what seemed like forever.

"Listen y'all are probably confused as to what's going happen, and I promise you'll understand later on since you've pretty much everything. Trish right? I think you should take him home to rest and don't tell anyone about what you just saw, especially your parents" Trent spoke looking down at her. She looked back up at him wanting to bombard him with many different questions right then, but instead she kept her mouth shut before wrapping her arm around Dez and leading him towards her car. "Ally, you coming?" she asked turning to look back at me.

"I have to take care of something, but I'll see you guys later" I smiled, waving goodbye to them. They waved goodbye before getting into the car and driving off.

I watched as the car drove further down the street, before turning to look back at them. "Thank you guys doing what you did for Trent, Trish and I really appreciate it. He means a lot to us, especially her" I said joining my hands together as I smiled up at the both of them

Trent wrapped his arm around Austin's shoulder, who quickly pushed him away before running his fingers through his hair. "We're sorry for dragging you and your friend into this, Ally" Trent apologized. "Well since I just saw what I saw, you think you can tell me what's going on?" I asked eagered to know what was happening behind all this and to also hopefully learn more about Austin. I wasn't sure why, but ever since I saw him talk to his mom in the prison waiting room, I somehow wanted to know everything about him. Trent scratched the back of his head before looking at Austin who shot him a glare signalling for him not to say anything. I watched as he quickly shifted his eyes away and rubbed through his tired eyes before turning to walk over to Trent's car.

I balled up my fists obviously annoyed at his sudden change in attitude. "Don't you think I have the right to know what's going on here?" I questioned with a little irritation in my voice.

"Earlier, you said if I helped you with this you wouldn't ask me for anything else. This isn't your fucking business, I don't give a shit about your life so why should you give a shit about mine! just because I helped you out doesn't make us friends!" he snapped furiously, the rage in his eyes slowly coming back from earlier. He opened the passengers seat to Trent's car and stepped inside before slamming the door shut. I watched as he pulled out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and slowly lit it, before covering his face with his hand.

"Wow he must really like you, that's the most words I've heard him say in a while" Trent chuckled leaving me confused. "The first time I met him he basically said the exact same thing to me... he wouldn't waste his breath on you if he wasn't starting to warm up to you. I know its a lot to handle but he could use a friend like you. I know it'll be tough but please just try, he's suffered more than anyone I've ever known, I've only seen him laugh once and that was when I tripped ans injured myself for three months" he stated before pausing to look down at the ground for a brief while. "Get inside I'll give you a ride home" he said pointing his head over to the backseat before walking over to the driver seat. I stared down at Austin who whiffed onto his cigarette, creating a cloud of smoke in the air as he purposefully avoided my gaze.

I pressed my lips tightly together before getting into the backseat of Trent's car and shutting the door behind me.

The car ride to my house was very silent, so silent it had started to become awkward. I looked over at Austin who leaned his head on the window, in deep thought about something. I wanted to ask him if he was alright but I figured that it was probably not a good idea, so instead I sighed quietly to myself before continuing to stare out the window. I knew he had been through a whole lot, I didn't know his whole story yet, but I still wanted to be there for him in a way.

As Trent stopped the car due to traffic, I looked across the street at a man dressed in a black suit as he walked with his arm around a young girl who wasn't too far of my age. I rolled down the window and looked closely and my heart froze as I realized that the man was indeed my Father. I watched in disgust as he hugged and kissed the girl as they walked over to his car. I knew this was happening ever since, I knew that he was having an affair but still seeing it for real made it so surreal. I couldn't believe there was a time where I looked at that man and happily called him Father. At that moment, I felt nothing but hatred and disgust towards him and I wanted him to know it to, I wanted him to feel the pain he had caused the both of us by doing what he did, I wanted him to truly suffer.

 _~A while later._

As Trent pulled up a couple blocks away from my house, I quickly got out the car before turning around to face them. "Thanks for dropping me home Trent" I said smiling a small smile before glancing over at Austin who looked straight ahead avoiding my gaze _._ I turned around to walk towards my house before turning to look back at Austin. "Oh and Austin... you better be in school by next week, you've missed three days this week, you do wanna graduate don't you?" I smirked at him before quickly turning back around as I was too nervous to see how he would react.

As I watched Trent's car drive of down the street, my smile began to quickly fade as I remember what I saw earlier on.

With anger slowly building up inside me, I quickly stormed over to my house. As I opened the door, I quickly looked around for my mother and when she wasn't downstairs, I quickly rushed upstairs, whilst calling her name along the way. "Ally you're home, what is it?" she asked walking out of the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

"I saw him mom! I saw that pathetic bastard you call your husband!" I snapped finally letting out all my anger and frustrations I had been keeping bottled in ever since the car ride. I barged into my room and got out a small suitcase to start packing my clothes as my mom stared at me from my door in confusion. I didn't want to tell her the truth as I knew just how much she loved that man and how much she's been trying to make their marriage work ever since but I simply had no choice. "I saw him hugging and kissing a girl way too young his age, and what's worse is that it was in public! He clearly has no respect for you so we're leaving this place" I hissed throwing my clothes in my bag and other things in my room as quickly as I possibly could.

"Ally... a-are you sure? m-maybe it was someone who looked like him" she stammered, causing me to instantly stop what I was doing.

I turned my head to look at her in disbelief, almost as if she had just lost her mind. "Am I sure? what kind of fucking question is that mom?" I snapped raising my voice at her a little. "I'm saying that I saw you're husband cheating on you and you're asking if I'm fucking sure. Yes I get it he's your husband, but I'm your daughter. When are you gonna be on my side for once instead of his? when are you gonna listen to your own daughter huh, or better yet when are you gonna stand up for yourself and stop being pushed around by that bastard-

"Alison Marie Dawson, he is your Father and you will not speak of him in that manner do you understand me?!" she scolded quickly breathing in and out.

I gazed at her with a blank and tired expression. Surely a mother who loved her daughter would believe them, right? wrong. I had lived my life being seen as second best and I was fed up. It truly wasn't fair that I had to fight to protect myself and my mother from that monster when it was her job in the first place to protect me. I was fed up, fed up of what this family had turned me into. Fed up of the worthless human being I called my mother and most of all fed up of the woman I called my mother, but even though I was fed up, I still knew that I had to protect her, because without him she was nobody and she needed to find her way into this world and walk her path, just like she should've before she had me. It was an unfortunate life that she lived, she had been trapped in an 18 year marriage and mistaked it for love without realizing that it was torture all along.

"What's all that noise?" I hear my Father's voice which was followed by the door slamming.

I looked back at my mom as she stood not knowing what to do or say as he slowly made his way up the stairs. As he saw us standing in silence, he furrowed his eyebrow before looking down at my mom to explain what was going on. The sight of him truly made me sick. "What's going on Penny?" he questioned forcefully.

"What's going on is she's leaving you, we're leaving you!" I spoke bluntly, before going back to throw some more things into my bag.

"You're what?" he asked raising his voice. As he pushed my mom out the way and made his way into my room, the anger inside me began to take over and without thinking, I quickly picked up the vase next to my night stand and threw it at the wall causing him to stop dead in his tracks. "I saw you okay, I saw you walk around with that girl and kiss her. You make me sick! why are you trying to ruin this family even more huh?! isn't it broken enough, haven't you already destroyed everything, haven't you already destroyed her!" I yelled pointing over to my mom who stood there motionless, refusing to say anything. "She's leaving you Lester and there's nothing you can do to stop her" I shouted as hot tears started to slowly fill my eyes, which was something that never happened.

"You are not going anywhere, go back inside the bedroom now!" he yelled turning to face my mom before turning his attention back to me.

"I can see now that you've lost your fucking mind and gone crazy... get out of my house!" he yelled. I looked over at my mom who quickly lowered her head morosely and at that moment I had felt my heart sink and shatter into small tiny pieces. I balled up my fists and quickly shifted my eyes away from her before turning around to throw the last of the things into my bag and zip it up.

I couldn't remember exactly what was said between my Father and I next but the arguing that came right after was loud and thunderous and the words that were exchanged to each other was brutal. I remember things being knocked over as we headed into the hallway and into the living room. It didn't feel like a Father and daughter fight, but two enemies releasing all their long awaited anger and frustration out on each other. It left me scarred even till this day. Even as we headed out the door the fighting still continued as neighbors began to come out of their houses to witness the unfortunate scene. I was angry and hurt , but nothing hurt me more than seeing my mother turn me away to side with my Father yet again. I guess there was really no hope for her as I that, I guess she would always be his little puppet that he can push around and use whenever it felt like it and it pained me to say that that night they had left me completely broken, shattered and with no hope what so ever.

Seeing as I had know where to go, I had no choice but to turn to Trish. Knocking on her door was completely nerve wracking and it took all the strength in me to do. Seconds later, she had slowly opened the door with her smile slowly fading at the distress and distraught look on my face, and at that moment, I couldn't help but burst into tears. I was normally a strong person who held in all of her tears due to the fear of being seen as weak in front of others, but at that moment, I just couldn't stop myself, and I knew that I could no longer stop myself any longer.

* * *

 _ **This was a pretty intense chapter that I used from some past experience especially towards the end, so I hope it touched you a little or a lot. I've never uploaded two chapters in one day but I decided to because why not. If you also enjoyed this chapter don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

Monday morning had quickly came by and I was feeling more stressed and frustrated than I had felt for the past two days.

I sat in the passenger's seat of Trish's car as we parked outside Dez's house waiting for her to come out of his house. Leaning the side of my head against the window, I took in another inhale of my cigarette as Trish tried her best to comfort me. Her and her family had allowed me to stay with them for the past two days after telling them what had happened between me and my father, and I couldn't be more thankful. I rubbed my forehead frustratingly as I started to think back to the nightmare of that day. I wanted him to know how much I hated him, I wanted him to realise how much I truly despised him because of what he did, but why did I end up feeling so terrible afterwards, why did it feel like I was slowly losing my mind over him. I knew that I couldn't remain at Trish's house forever even though her family had been so kind to me, and I also knew that I couldn't go back to that house with my crazy, violent father and clueless mother. For the first time in my life I was in a mess and had no idea what to do next.

I slowly turned my head to look over at Trish as she removed the cigarette from her lips to quickly flash me a smile. I smile back before slowly turning to look back out the window to see Dez closing his front door and rushing over to us. "I heard about everything... you okay Ally?" he asked, whilst leaning down to give me a tight hug. I hugged him back before pulling away to nod my head and plaster a big smile on my face so he wouldn't feel so worried. He placed a quick kiss on my cheek and hurried over to do the same to Trish before getting into the backseat and shutting the door behind him.

Trish started up the engine and was about to speak up till she heard a car beeping at us, and quickly turned around to see some popular kids from High School throwing insults at us as they laughed and drove past. Trish clutched onto the steering wheel and quickly pressed her foot on the brakes before quickly driving off to catch up to them, even making sure to slightly over the speed limit as Dez and I looked at each other un-certained at what she was about to do. As she approached them, she quickly rolled down the windows before removing the cigarette from between her lips and throwing it at them. I noticed Dallas, who sat in the driver's seat with a flabbergasted expression at Trish's sudden action, and my mind quickly recalled back to when I found out that they used to date in middle school.

"Fuck you!" she screamed at the top of her lungs before rolling her windows back up and driving past them.

"I can't believe you just did that" I chuckled looking back at the car then back at Trish who took a deep breath, almost as if she was starting to realise what she had just did.

I looked back at Dez who looked back at me in shock and within several seconds the three of us broke into laughter. "That was the best thing ever" Dez crackled as I continued laughing uncontrollably, almost falling out of my seat as Trish glanced at me a little surprisingly. I was shocked at how much I laughed that morning. It was the first time that I laughed that hard in a while, and for a brief moment it made me forget all of the problems I was going threw, but only for a brief moment as I was quickly brought back to the reality of the un-eventful events that was sure to give me nightmares everyday for the rest of my life.

 _~A couple hours later._

I was sited in my third period of the day, which was English alongside Dez.

I turned my head to look at the back of the classroom before glancing up at the clock and sighing a deep sigh under my breath. It had been 15 minutes since the lesson started and I knew that he wasn't coming. What was I thinking anyway? just because I told him to be in class today doesn't mean that he was going to listen to me in the first place. He only saw me as a burden in the first place. I wasn't sure why I was thinking about him so much, but after catching myself glancing over at the clock at every minute, I realised that I just wanted to see him again. I knew that it was going to be a lot of work to try and be his friend since Trent had asked me too, but I was willing to give it a go and find out all of the many secrets that he had trapped inside him.

"Uhm... has anyone seen Austin today, or does anyone know if he's in school?" Mrs Nakamura questioned, stopping her teaching to look back at the teaching once again. Even though she was one of the many teachers in school that feared Austin, she was the only one to still care and worry for him. You didn't need to see it to believe it, she was a good teacher who believed in all of her students and most of all a decent human being, and it is why she is the only teacher I still remember till this day.

"He's probably out doing drugs or something super illegal. The School should really check into him more, don't you think Mrs Nakamura" Brooke spoke up, causing the whole class to erupt into laughter and me to roll my eyes over to the back of my head. As she flicked her hair back to glance confidently around the class, her eyes suddenly stopped at Dez. "What are you looking at you freak?" she said rolling her eyes at Dez, who quickly lowered his head to look down at his desk as the whole class laughed even more.

I turned my head to look back at Dez who started to go crimson red as the laughter became louder and louder. One thing that he didn't do well at was social anxiety, which was also one of the things that triggered his explosive disorder. I leaned over to rub his shoulders to calm him down a little before turning my head around to face Brooke. "Hey, don't talk to him like that Brooke, being popular doesn't mean you can go around being a shitty person" I hissed as everyone began to lose their minds over my insult. Brooke gaped at me with her mouth hung, almost as if she couldn't believe I had embarrassed her in front of everybody, but after her shocked expression began to turn into anger as she gritted her teeth whilst scowling bitterly over at me. I rolled my eyes at her once again before turning back to look at Dez to see if he was alright. He slowly lifted his head from his desk and shot me a small smile, in which I gladly returned. Due to his social awkwardness that he had almost all of his life, protecting him had become a big priority for me ever since I became friends with him and Trish. The three of us were like a family, and being a family meant looking out for each other at all times, even in the most difficult and unfortunate times.

"Everyone, please settle down!" Mrs Nakamura spoke up raising her voice at the rest of the class before turning her attention to Brooke and I. "I should give you two detention just for that but I'll let it go this time, if you have an issue with each other deal with it somewhere else and not in my class" she sighed before turning around to face the black board. As she went back to teaching, I could feel Brooke's hard and vicious gaze in my direction, but I refused to give her any of my attention as I wasn't clearly in the mood.

Several minutes later, I heard the door slowly creak open and I quickly looked over to see Austin slowly walking inside. He was dressed in a black singlet shirt, black ripped jeans and a black bandanna which was wrapped around his head. It was then that I noticed his exposing muscles and the tattoo sleeve running down his left arm. As he walked further into the room, everybody had stopped what they had doing to look at him. Whether they secretly liked him or hated him, it was clear that he had an affect on people, as they were clearly captivated on hooked on his every move He was like a magician that controlled them all. Whenever he entered a room all eyes would immediately turn to look at him. It was as if he was a magnet that drew in everybody, regardless of how they felt about him. I looked closely at him and began to notice how tired he looked, more than usual. By taking one good look at him, anyone would think that he hadn't a good nights sleep for years. A smile began to slowly spread across my face as he glanced over at Dez, and I. Of course he didn't smile back or wave, but the eye contact he held with me had almost made up for it. He looked back at Mrs Nakamura, who smiled and told him to go take his seat before going to do as told as people started to whisper to each other.

I couldn't believe that he had showed up. The last thing I wanted to do was get my hopes up and think that it was all because of me. I slowly turned back around to see him gazing back out the window like he usually did. He didn't continue his gazing for long as within seconds later, he had turned his head around to catch my gaze. I nodded my head at him and smiled hoping that he would smile back since I hadn't seen him show any happy emotion yet, but instead of smiling back, he quickly shifted his eyes away to look back out the window, causing my face to slowly drop. This was going to be very difficult, I thought to myself as I turned my head back to face the front of the class.

Later on during the class, we heard a loud knock come from behind the door, which was quickly flung open afterwards to reveal the School'd student body president. She adjusted her glasses and placed her arms to her side before speaking up. "Mrs Nakamura, Principal Harper said that I should get Austin Moon and Ally Dawson to report to his office away" she said glancing over at the both of us, before walking out the door as the class remained silent. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion wondering what was going on, before slowly getting up from my seat and walking over to the door.

I looked back at Dez, who held a puzzled look on his face, before glancing over at Austin as he sighed to himself and ran his fingers through his blonde locks before getting up to join me. As the two of us exited out of the classroom, I looked up at Austin to see if I could find a hint of worry in his eyes, but nothing, and it then became clear to me that he was used to getting in trouble and being called to the principal's office, sometimes without even knowing the reason. As we walked further down the hallway, my eyes slowly travelled down to his tattoo sleeve, which was filled with many different things that obviously had a deep meaning behind them and meant a lot to him. Further down his wrist was the name 'Aaron' tattooed in small, script letters, and I quickly remembered that it was his late brother, and it only made me want to know more. He must have noticed me staring, because his speed had began to slowly quicken, which caused me to sigh. "Do you think we're both in trouble?" I asked looking up at him once again. He sighed quietly under his breath and remained silence, refusing to answer my question, which only made me annoyed by the second. Realising that there was no way I was going to get him to talk to me again, I sighed a defeated sigh and looked straight ahead in silence till we reached the principal's office.

As we arrived at the office, I noticed some of the teachers in the room opposite giving Austin judging and bitter looks but he didn't seem fazed by it even for the slightest bit. To my surprise, he had opened the door for me to step inside before following in after me. As we walked further in, I looked around the place before turning my attention to Principal Harper who sat behind his seat, gazing over at Austin with the same look I had seen all the teachers give him. It was almost as if he didn't notice that I was also there because his attention was so focused on Austin, which made the mystic aura in the room become tense and uncomfortable. As Austin finally turned to catch his gaze, he quickly shifted his eyes away towards me, almost as if he was scared to look into his eyes for too long. I surely didn't understand why so many people were so afraid of him.

Moments later, he signalled for us both to come sit across from him, before finally speaking up. "I know you're both wondering why I called you down here, so I'll get to the point" he spoke sternly. "Last Saturday evening one of the teachers; Miss Tudor said she saw the both of you standing outside an abandoned warehouse with another person, in which a whole lot of reported illegal activities have taken place. Is this true?" he questioned, his eyes heavily fixated on Austin yet again. My heart started to beat quickly as I looked up at Austin to see him with a straight face, how was he not bothered by this when he had been caught?. The principal sighed and removed his eyes from Austin before turning his attention back to me. "Ally, you're a new student here and I want you to graduate here just like everybody else, so you tell me if he's making you do something that you're not comfortable with and I'll make sure to take care of the situation right away" he uttered leaving me shocked. There was truly not a single ounce of Austin in that school, everybody saw him as this dangerous monster that only caused trouble wherever he went and it just wasn't fair on him.

Austin remained silent whilst lowering his head, and at that moment something inside me made me want to protect him, to stop the constant suffering and slandering that he's had to put up with in this school. "No... that isn't true" I spoke up causing him to lift his head back up. "Our English teacher, Mrs Nakamura assigned Austin and I are project and after we finished it at my house, we went to the movies on Saturday evening with my other two friends. We weren't at any abandoned warehouse sir, I'm sure Miss Tudor might have mistaken us for other people" I stated, quickly making up a lie in my head.

"Are you sure of what you're saying Ally?" he asked, glancing at Austin who looked at me a little surprised.

"I'm absolutely sure sir, we don't know what you're talking about" I replied, whilst trying my best to stay focused so he wouldn't spot out the obvious.

He looked over at Austin once more like he was trying to figure something out before letting out a deep sigh. "Well it looks like I misjudged you Ally, I'm terribly sorry about that" he said refusing to apologise to Austin. "Can I ask who your friends were that you went to see the movie with?" he questioned placing both his arms on his desk. "Trish De La Rosa and Dez Worthy sir" I answered a little bluntly.

He pushed his chair back and opened his cupboard to bring something out before placing it in front of us. "As you might have heard the School is looking for four people, two boys and two girls to go over to Miami shores next week and help some residents rebuild a homeless shelter that was destroyed by a hurricane. It would only be for four days and you would be provided with a hotel to stay in and some food, plus it would put in a good reputation for our School and help you with your college points... for some of you" he stated glancing over at Austin. "Since you four are friends like you said, this is a perfect opportunity don't you think? go have a think about it and I'll get back to you later" he said before pointing his head over to the door, signalling for us to leave.

Without looking back at him, Austin quickly got up from his seat and headed towards the door as I followed afterwards. As we strolled out his office, we turned to walk down the hallway, this time a little slower. "Listen... I know you don't wanna do something like that but don't you think you should to you know... keep the lie up? I mean its obvious that he only gave us the trip to see if I was telling the truth or-

"I'm doing it" he said cutting me off my sentence and leaving me a little shocked. I would've definitely thought otherwise.

We walked further on in silence for a little while, till he stopped dead in his tracks whilst grabbing hold of my wrist. "Why did you say what you did in there and cover for me?, is there something you want from me Ally?" he questioned in a low and deep tone. Thinking back to it now, it was the first time he had said my name ever since I knew him and it made me somewhat relieved, it was as if he had lifted of the weights that I didn't know were on my shoulders. He looked around to see if anyone was in the hallway before slowly cornering me up against the wall and towering over me. His eyes slowly travelled down my body which made me very anxious as to what he was going to do next. Before I knew it, his hands slowly slid down my back and down to my lower waist, giving me a feeling that I had never felt before. "Is this what you want huh?... if I give it to you, would you stop trying to get to know me?" he whispered whilst brushing through my cheek with the palm of his hand. His touch was so simple yet the feeling of it made me lose control of myself for a short while, and his voice was like a drug that was hard to turn away from, but I couldn't believe that he thought that sex was all I really wanted from him, but on the other hand I couldn't really blame him for thinking that way. I could tell that no one had made an effort to talk to him as much as I did and it definitely confused him in a way.

"That's not what I want from you" I whispered gazing up into his eyes. "I just didn't want you to get into trouble again. I know you could use a friend, and I don't mind being there for you" I muttered smiling a small smile up at him.

He gazed back down at me for a couple seconds before removing his hand from his waist and taking a step back from me. "I don't need a friend" he stated bluntly before turning to look elsewhere. "And I don't need you or anyone to be there for me either" he said, and with that he turned around to walk away leaving me with a disappointed and distraught feeling. I knew it certainly wasn't going to be easy, but how much could I really take from him before I decide to finally give up?.

* * *

Hours later, School was over at the day and I was then starting my new part time job which was at a small dessert shop downtown.

I nodded my head as my manager filled me in on the rules and everything to with the job, but all I could really think about was everything that had happened with Austin and I earlier on in the school hallway. There was no doubt that it made things awkward between us as after we returned to class, he immediately picked up his begs and left. It was almost as if he didn't want to be in the same room as me and that somehow hurt me a lot. I just wasn't sure what his problem was, I knew that he had been through a lot of things in life and probably seen things that made him end up the way that he did, but I was only trying to be nice and be his friend, when everybody around him pushed him away and treated him as if he were a troubled monster who caused harm wherever he goes. Although, I didn't know everything there was to know about him yet, I knew that he definitely was no monster. I knew that he had a heart, it might have been small and lifeless, but it was still something, something that I needed to try harder and bring out.

"Ally, Ally are you listening?" my manager questioned, snapping me back to reality. I nodded my head and took a deep breath as she carried on explaining to me what I needed to do. "I was saying that you're not the only one I hired to work part time. There's also a boy who I think goes to your High School and he will be working very closely with you on some days" as she finished her sentence, I heard the front door quickly fly open and I quickly turned around to see Dallas strolling inside with his hands in his pockets. "There he is now, he's earlier than I thought he'd be" she chuckled opening the desk up to greet him as I tried not to cuss out loud. Right then I truly wanted to quit before I had already even started to avoid being stuck with an idiot like Dallas, but seeing as I was going through a lot of stuff at the moment, I needed the money more than anything.

I rolled my eyes at how she giggled at laughed at his jokes and looked at him as if he were a piece of meat, waiting to jump on. Dallas looked past her, and as he saw me, his lips quickly formed into a smug smirk, which I truly disgusted. He went back to talking to the manager for several seconds till the two slowly turned around to walk over to me. "Ally, Dallas said you two are already friends which is great, I'm happy that you two know each other so I expect a good working environment" she said before walking over to the back, leaving Dallas and I alone.

"You fucking liar! why did you have to apply to the same job" I hissed, running my fingers through my hair.

He chuckled at my frustration towards him before taking of his varsity jacket to expose his muscles as some of the girls who were already sited in the shop stopped what they were doing to look at him. I watched in disbelief as he turned to wink at some of them before turning his attention back to me. "Why are you so fucking angry all the time new girl?, besides you still haven't apologised to me for pouring chocolate milk down my hair and embarrassing me in front of everyone" he laughed leaning closer to me, but before he could get closer I quickly pushed him away by the face.

"You insulted my friends you piece of shit, you deserved it" I hissed going to walk away, till he quickly pulled me back by the wrist.

"What friends? that fatty and that freak, next thing you know you're gonna tell me that you're friends with that loser Austin Moon too" he laughed as anger began to quickly build up inside me. "You're going through all the lengths to defend two people that mean nothing. Also-

"Oh really, they mean nothing?!" I snapped drawing some attention to us. "One thing I hate is people that talk of a lot of crap about someone who they once care for. I know all about you and Trish in middle school and how you dumped her to be popular. What kind of fucking person does that?" I hissed as the confident and bold expression on his face began to quickly vanish. I rolled my eyes away from him and without saying anything else I turned around to walk to the back to get started on my shift.

 _~A while later._

After serving all of the customers in the shop, I stood at the counter as I watched them sit and enjoy their desserts. I was about to head back to check on a couple orders but stopped as I noticed two people walking inside. The boy had his arm around the girl which suggested to me that they were a couple, but the look on the girl's face had somewhat told me otherwise as it was a look of misery and anguish. I watched as they slowly made their way to sit at the closest table next to the counter opposite each other.

As the girl pulled out a cigarette from her purse, I looked closely to remember where I had seen her from till it finally hit me. She was the girl who was part of the group that had kidnapped Dez two days ago and was also Austin's ex girlfriend as it seemed. As she was about to lit her cigarette, her eyes slowly scanned the room anxiously till it landed over at the counter at me. At first she looked at me like I was nothing important to her, but after a short while, her eyes began to slowly widen and I could tell that she was remembering who I was also. Her cigarette and lighter slowly slipped out of her delicate hand and down onto the table as she continued to stare at me with discomfort. After a while, she slowly shifted her eyes away from me to lower her head, almost as if to avoid looking at anybody else. By taking one good look at her, you would think she was a confident and stuck-up person. She had long, golden blonde hair, light blue eyes and was fairly tall, but she was nowhere near confident. I didn't know her enough to judge her, but she seemed incredibly happy, like there was something constantly bothering her or there was something in her life missing that she desperately nodded.

I shifted my eyes over to her date, who wasn't part of the group of people to see him looking back at me with a strange expression as to why we were staring at each other with heavy eyes. "Piper" he called, but when she didn't answer, he quickly reached over and forcefully lifted her chin up so that she could face him. "Are you seriously still thinking about that fucking mute when you're on a date with me?" he questioned in disbelief.

"No I'm not Austin, I-I mean Chris" she stammered nervously before cussing under her breath.

He looked at her furiously before quickly shooting up from his chair. "I fucking knew it, you fucking bitch I'm outta here" he hissed kicking his chair over to the side before storming out towards the door.

As some customers began to turn their attention towards Piper, I quickly hurried out of the counter to pick up the chair he had kicked away. As I went to place it behind the table, she looked up at me before speaking up. "You were one of the girls that was with Austin at the car park on Saturday aren't you?" she asked holding a hard stare at me, almost as if she forced herself not to look away. "And you were one of the people who kidnapped my friend, aren't you?" I sighed before going to walk back to the counter as she followed.

"We had to get him back, Austin is like a family to us. You're just a little High School girl so I don't expect you to understand anyway" she scoffed crossing her arms above her chest. I was about to fire back at her, but stopped as I saw my manager walking out from the back, so instead I was forced to bite my tongue and hold it in even though it killed me too.

She peered down at me like she was trying to figure something out before speaking up again. "Why was Austin talking to you?, he doesn't talk to anyone, neither does he hang out with people from his school" she exclaimed almost as if she was trying to hold back some tears, and it didn't take long to figure out that she was hopelessly in love with him, maybe even a little obsessed with him. "We dated for two years and I'm trying to get him back so if you have something with him just tell me now, I've waited way to long to even see him again and I'm definitely not gonna lose him to you" she stammered with her fingers trembling rapidly. It was certainly clear just how much Austin meant to her.

"You think there's something going on between us?" I sighed shifting my eyes towards her. "Look he doesn't even wanna be my friend, so don't drag me into your mess because I'm not interested" I muttered quietly so that no one could hear.

She stared down at me in disbelief for a brief moment before rolling her eyes away and going to grab her purse from the table. She took one last good look at me before swinging her purse over her shoulder and turning to walk towards the door. As she exited out of the door, I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed before heading to the back to calm down a little. It wasn't like I liked Austin in a romantic way, I mean he clearly wants nothing to do with me, but why did I feel a little threatened by her right then.

 _~Hours later._

It was now sometime around 9 pm and I was walking down the quiet street in town, not ready to go back to Trish's yet.

I stopped at the street where Austin had accidentally dropped the locket, before looking over at the homeless man he had given money to, to see him singing an old classic blues song which was one of my favourites, whilst also strumming along to a ukulele. I smiled and leaned against the wall as he did a little dance whilst people walking past gave him strange looks. I wasn't sure who he was exactly, I was sure he was just another homeless man but I remembered him saying how Austin had came here every night to give him some money and some food, which lead me to think that he was definitely a lot special to him, but how exactly?.

I started to nod my head and tap to my feet at his singing for a while, till he caught my gaze signalling for me to come over. "Hey little lady" he waved and I chuckled to myself before walking over to me. I brought out my wallet about to give him some money but before I could he had quickly stopped me. "You're the first person that's stopped to watch me play all day, its more than enough for me sweetheart" he smiled.

"Well you're really good" I smiled back as he quickly nodded his head thanking me. "Thank you... you know someone gave me a ukulele today and I just somehow knew how to play it, I've been playing this song all day because its the only one I know how to" he explained briefly and I began to think if that someone was in fact Austin. "You wanna dance? here I'll start playing again and you dance" he chuckled and before I could say anything else he had began playing again. I looked around to see people glancing in our direction as some even stopped to take pictures and videos before looking back up at the man as he nodded his head, signalling for me to start dancing whenever I was ready.

I surely didn't know how to dance that's for sure, but something inside was just telling me to let loose even if it was for a little while. Not caring if anybody was watching I quickly took of my leather jacket and backpack and placed them on the floor before starting to dance freely to his rhythm. I wasn't sure how long I had danced for, but I didn't seem to care due to the fact that I was having such a good time. When I lived in Washington, I never would've dared to stand in the middle of a street with a homeless man who I didn't know and dance to his music, but being in Miami was beginning to slowly change my perspective, especially on how I viewed things. I never wanted to come here in the first place, but in that moment I'm glad that I did, I guess I was truly meant to end up in that city after all. I began to tap dance and swing my arms around which had caused him to laugh hysterically. As he carried on laughing, I glanced across the street to see a figure sitting on the bench gazing at the both of us and I quickly realised that it was Austin.

"That's the guy who gave me the ukulele, be careful though, he doesn't smile or talk very much" he whispered down in my ear. I quickly turned around to smile up at him before leaning up and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you" I muttered before grabbing my jacket and backpack of the floor and crossing the street to sit besides Austin.

We sat in silence for a brief while, the only thing you could hear was the sound of the man playing ukulele and the street sounds. "How long have you been sitting there?" I asked, quickly regretting it knowing that he might or might not answer, but to my surprise he did.

"Long enough to know you're a terrible dancer" he muttered with his eyes fixated on the man. I was shocked that he stayed long enough to watch me dance, but I was even more shocked that he had decided to speak to me, seeing as how awkward things had gotten with us earlier in school.

We didn't say anything after that and somehow we didn't have to. I hadn't realised that we hadn't been sitting there for hours watching him play until I looked around noticing that there weren't many people out on the street. After a while, I turned my head to look at Austin to see him fast asleep with his head leaning closely to me. I quickly dived into my bag and brought out a scarf before using it to wrap around him so that he wouldn't get cold. As I shifted closer, his head finally fell onto my shoulder and I realised just how tired he really was. Seeing how peaceful he looked, I certainly didn't want to wake him so I stayed and watched him sleep on my shoulder even till past midnight. That night was a night that I would never forget because it was the first memory that I ever shared with him. Even though we had said such few words to each other, I truly enjoyed being in his company and I could tell that he enjoyed being in mine too.

* * *

 _ **This chapter was pretty fun to write, especially towards the end. If you enjoyed the chapter don't forget to review because y'alls reviews really keep me motivated to update often. Love you guys.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

It was a sunny, yet window morning, and Trish, Dez and I were sited at the train station.

It was the day of the trip which was organised by our School's principal a week ago. At first I had no intention of going to it, but seeing as I had lied to him to cover up for Austin, I simply had no other choice. It was a pretty quiet and untroubled week to say the least. Austin and I didn't speak once during the week and I would often find him avoiding making eye contact with me as if I were a complete stranger, which made me question if he regretted sitting with me for hours last Monday. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get that particular night out of my head, but I wasn't so sure about him. Who knew that sitting with someone who I had only known for a couple of weeks for four hours in total silence would bring me so much peace. Not only did it bring me feel comfort, but it also made me feel safe being in his presence and I wasn't so sure why. I had thought that he would've at least opened up to me after that but I thought wrong. He was like a closed book that you could never open to find out what's inside, but still, it was one of the things that intrigued me and initially drew me to him.

I lifted my head up from Dez's shoulder and looked around to see if Austin was anywhere around, before looking up at Trish as she paced back and fourth impatiently in front of us. "Trish, please calm down, Ally said he's coming" said Dez in a silent and almost restricted tone, realising that Austin Moon; the self proclaimed school's bad guy would be spending four days with us far away from home. The idea itself worried me a little as I knew something was bound to happen.

Trish placed her hand on her hips and groaned before stopping dead in her tracks to face us. "The train's gonna come anytime soon and he's basically no where to be seen, I knew he wasn't gonna show, he doesn't give a shit about helping to rebuild a fucking homeless shelter" she groaned loudly, stomping her feet along the way, but seeing as she hadn't seen what I had seen of him yet, she couldn't be more wrong. "I only agreed to this trip for good college points Ally, why did you even cover for him in the first place?" she questioned in a fussy tone, ignoring people who walked past her giving her strange and bizarre looks. As she carried on complaining, I rolled my eyes before turning my head back around once again to see if Austin was anywhere to be seen. It was as if every time that I didn't spot his tall and striking figure walking towards us, I could feel my heart slowly sinking. Maybe he wasn't coming after all.

"Look guys, we all know that Austin isn't a very social person. He hasn't had any friends before because people are so fucking scared of him, so lets just try to make him feel a little welcome" I began arching my brow over at Trish who crossed her arms above her chest and slowly lowered her head. "And we know he doesn't like talking a lot too so we should try and bear with him on that. I think something really terrible might have happened in his past to cause that" I sighed before turning around once again to check if he was coming. It was certainly odd how I found myself doing that as each minute passed. I guess I just wanted to see him again.

"I've always thought he was cool, besides he saved me that one time along with that friend of his, what's his name again, Trent?" he asked and I briefly nodded my head before flashing him a warm smile. "That day was the first time I've heard him say anything, I didn't think he knew my name or knew who I was exactly" he said letting out a slight chuckle. I rubbed his arm and placed my head back down on his shoulder as Trish smiled down at us before going to sit beside me.

We sat closely together for a couple minutes till the conductor blew onto his whistle, indicating that the train had arrived. We looked up as the train glided silently into the station casting a shadow over the platform and the waiting passengers. I felt a rain drop slowly sprinkle down onto my head, and realising that it had started raining, the crowd of people quickly boarded hastily as the doors opened. The platform was left with scurrying people heading home in the dusk. I watched as people pushed past me and boarded on before looking back to see no sign of Austin, which had caused me to start panicking. "Ally, lets go we can't miss the train, he's obviously not coming" I heard Trish say through the crowd of loud murmurs and hasty footsteps. She tugged onto my arm pulling me into the train without any hesitation as people hurried to take a seat. I watched as Trish and Dez quickly took two empty seats beside me before breathing in and out as I felt people began to push past as it was very crowded.

I closed my eyes and sighed before turning around towards the door to see a figure rushing towards the door and my face began to quickly light up. Before the train's doors could close, he quickly sprinted inside, his body immediately coming into heavy contact with mine, leaving no space between us. Uncaringly, the train's doors noisily slammed shut and a moments silence was followed by the gentle electrical murmur as the train slid out of the train station and onto the railway. Shocked at the fact that he actually came, I slowly looked up at him to see him staring back down at me. His wet blonde hair dripped down onto his face, covering his eye slightly and his lips breathed heavily from all the running. He glanced down at Trish who gaped at him surprisingly before slowly shifting his eyes away. I shot him a sweet smile knowing that he wasn't gonna smile back, but wanting him to know how happy I was that he came.

We stood in silence for a while looking away from each other, till I felt someone accidentally shove me, causing my body to press against Austin's tightly. Realising that there was no space for us to move to since it was so crowded, we quickly looked away from each other yet again to avoid any awkward eye contact. After a short while, I noticed Austin place his suitcase on the floor, before stretching his arms up to hold onto the hanging strap, and I couldn't help but roam my eyes at his tattoos and the sight of his muscles flexing. He licked his lips and ran his fingers through his wet hair with his other hand and I had immediately felt my heart skip a beat, and it certainly didn't help that we were this close to each other. I wouldn't surprised if he could hear my heart beating.

"Uhm... I'm glad you made it, I thought you weren't coming after all" I began, finally deciding to start up a conversation to fill the awkward void between us. He glanced down at me once again, and it was almost as if he suddenly had control over me. It must have been the height difference between us and nothing else, I thought to myself as I stared back up at him. "I had to do something first" he said in a low whisper. His voice was hoarse and raspy, almost as if he was scared to take another word, fearing that it could break, which also lead me to believe that he had been crying a lot. I looked into his eyes closely noticing that it was red and weary, and I began to worry as well as wander what could've caused him to cry. He was truly in pain every single minute of every day and I couldn't believe that I didn't realise it till then. He was suffering so much inside, but he had to pretend that he didn't care, just like how he thought nobody cared about him. I thought that I was going threw a lot due to being kicked out by my Dad, but he was going threw a lot worse, more than I could ever imagine. I just wanted to be there for him, if only he would've allowed me to at first.

"Are you okay?..." I asked in a soothing tone. He looked away and let out a deep breath, indicating that he didn't want to answer the question, and with that we had went back to being in silence. I was so tired of the constant silence between us, yet so used to it at the same time.

After a while as more and more people began to clear out the train, I slowly picked up my luggage and went to sit opposite Trish and Dez as Austin followed, taking a seat beside me. I glanced out the window as the rain began to dry out to be quickly replaced back with the sun, before turning my attention to Trish and Dez, who stared at Austin a little awkwardly not knowing what to do or say. "So Austin..." Dez began sitting up from his seat as Trish and I sat still. "What college do you wanna go to in the fall?" he asked in a hopeful tone, before interlocking his hands together and waiting patiently for a reply, but when he didn't get one, he sunk back into his seat in disappointment as Austin turned to glance out the window, not bothering to even look at him.

Trish glared at him irritatingly before rolling her eyes away and speaking up. "You know you don't have to be so rude and stand off-ish, if you haven't noticed we're trying to be nice here" she hissed crossing her arms above her chest, but even that didn't make him speak to her and I could tell it was starting to annoy her by the second. Somehow it felt as if I was the only one he could properly speak to. Sure we didn't have full blown conversations and it wasn't a lot, but it was still something. I ultimately thought that his reason for saying such few words was because he simply didn't like to speak, but I later realised that it was because whenever he spoke there would be a hint of agony and slight torture in his tone, almost as if it pained him to do so. But why? why did he fear such a basic and harmful thing

I shook my head at Trish and Dez, signalling for them not to ask him any questions as I had the sense that it was making him slightly uncomfortable and tensed. As he rubbed his eyes together and leaned back on his seat, I noticed his hair was still damp and wet. Without hesitation, I dived inside my luggage and brought out a small towel before handing it over to me. He glanced down at my sudden gesture and immediately shook his head, signalling that he didn't need it but I wasn't the one to take no for an answer. "Just take it and use it to dry your hair" I said placing the towel on top of his head, causing Trish and Dez to chuckle slightly. He looked over at them then back at me and it was then that I noticed something in his eyes began to change. It was as if it had suddenly gotten darker in a sense that something had overwhelming overcame him. Before I knew it, he quickly removed the towel from his head and threw it back at me before getting up and walking in the direction of the bathroom.

"Ugh what's his fucking problem!" Trish hissed whilst rolling her eyes away. I clutched onto the towel before lifting my head back up to see Austin heading inside the bathroom. I wondered the lengths I would have to go through to open up that cold and bitter heart of his.

* * *

A couple hours later, we walked down the streets of Miami shores in the flaming and blistering hot weather whilst on our way to the hotel we would be staying in for a couple days.

I put on my sunglasses before turning to look around the place. It was quiet, peaceful and the sound of the waves from the beaches nearby was as calming as the slight breeze that blew in our direction every once in a while. Trish, Dez and I walked besides each other as Austin strolled in front of us. I had initially planned to keep him company on the trip whenever he felt lonely, but seeing as how he had became more distant than ever after I had giving him the towel on the train, I had decided to keep my own distance from him and give him the space that he needs, even though it pained me to. Just as I thought I was finally figuring out the type of person that he was each day, I was immediately brought back, due to the bubble he kept around himself to shield away everybody.

"Hey, Trish Ally, do you think we should come here for summer break? its so peaceful" Dez asked stopping dead in his tracks to stretch his arms up.

"Look around doofus, this place is basically for rich people, we wouldn't be able to afford it" Trish replied stretching her hands up to ruffle his head. "Trish is right Dez, remember we all checked this morning to see how much money we had and it was less than $100 combined, we have to be the three most broke people in the world right now so we'll probably end up spending summer at Trish's backyard" I reminded causing the three of us to burst into heaps of laughter. I opened my eyes and turned my head to the side to see Austin turning around to face us. He watched as Trish and Dez carried on laughing, with Trish almost falling onto the floor and Dez having to catch her before she does, before fixating his gaze over at me. I shot him a sweet smile, but my smile began to slowly fade away as he turned his head back around and carried on walking, pulling his suitcase along the way.

As we arrived at the hotel, we noticed a lady sitting alone on the bench outside impatiently, almost as if she was waiting for somebody. She had long red hair and flawless skin and she wore a bright yellow floral dress with black sandals. As she turned her gaze over at us, she squinted her eyes slightly before opening up the book which she held in her hands. As she scanned through it, a smile began to slowly spread across her first. Looking back at us, she closed the book and quickly stood up before walking over to us. Her smile was almost blinding and there was no denying that she was completely gorgeous to say the least. She almost looked like a princess who was pampered her whole life.

"Hey, you guys go to Marino High School right?" she asked grinning at each and every one of us. "Your principal told me you all volunteered and I just wanna say thank you. Not many teenagers would take the time out of their day and come down to help rebuild a homeless shelter. I'm Ana, and my Daddy actually owns this hotel you'll be staying in, but I like to help out the less fortunate downtown and I'll be assisting you with food and anything else you need whilst you're here" she said politely before looking up at Austin who looked around the place a little uninterested. "Oh and just so you know, you guys don't have to be that serious with me, I'm only 23 so I know what it feels like to still be stuck in High School" she laughed in a high pitched tone, causing Trish to quickly scrunch up her face at her.

"Uhm, I'm Ally and thank you" I smiled, whilst offering my hand out for her to shake.

"Oh I know all your names, your school gave me pictures of you so I was able to recognise you" she said whimsically before shaking my hand and turning to face the others. "You're Trish and Dez, right?" she asked shaking both their hands before turning her full attention to Austin who was still cautiously looking around the place. "And you're Austin, right?" she asked a little flirtatiously whilst taking a step closer to him. "Your school told me to watch out for you, but I'm sure you're not that bad... you look very different from your picture, I didn't realise you were so tall and cute" she winked, flicking her hair back before taking a step back from him and signalling for us all to follow her. It was very inappropriate, but I guess there were no boundaries to her. I looked back up at Austin who rolled his eyes away from her uninteresting before catching my gaze. We held solid eye contact for five seconds or so until we were forced to look away to make things less awkward.

"Talk about annoying, how faker can she get" Trish whispered quietly to me as Austin and Dez followed from behind us. I looked back to see Dez trying to make some conversation with Austin and although he didn't reply to anything, he didn't completely dismiss him either, which lead me to believe that he was starting to warm up to his presence and I couldn't help but smile at the thought of that.

After several minutes, we arrived at the rooms we were going to be staying in, which were also opposite each other.

"Okay so Ally and Trish, you will be staying in this one right here" she said pointing to the room over to the right. "And Austin and Dez, since you're both boys you'll be sharing this one" she smiled before turning her attention to Austin as she continued to flirt with him. Austin turned his head away from her and back around to glance down at me and I couldn't help but blush a little at the pure intensity he held in his eyes. It was so captivating and was one of the things that initially drew me to him in the first place. "Are you guys dating?" she asked with a little perseverance whilst eyeing the both of us closely.

Awkward tension started to quickly build up around the air, as I rapidly shook my head. "Uh no, no we're not... we're just-

"Yes... we are" Austin spoke cutting me off my sentence, causing my mouth to open wide in shock. My mind had went blank for a little while and the pace of my heart beat had started to quicken. That was the last thing I ever expected to come out of his mouth. "Oh... well if there's anything you guys need just let me know. I'll be back to let you know when you'll start helping out when you've finished unpacking" she said, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice before quickly turning around to walk away. Trish rolled her eyes away from her before turning her attention over at Austin. "Why did you tell her that you and Ally were dating? do you like her or something?" Trish questioned non-hesitantly causing me to smack my hand on my forehead. Right then you could almost feel the awkwardness begin to surround us all.

Austin glanced down at me for a split second before turning around to open the door to him and Dez's room. "I didn't want her to bother me... I have no interest in anybody" he uttered a little harshly before strolling inside the room as Dez waved goodbye to us before following after him and shutting the door behind him.

I pressed my back against the wall and sighed to myself as Trish began to open the door to our room. "Well he's probably telling the truth. I mean he's so cold and heartless there's no way he could ever like anybody, but he seems to prefer you more Ally" she muttered before opening the door and helping to bring my suitcase into the room. I stared at their room door for a brief while as millions of different thoughts filled my head, and not one seemed to make sense or justify exactly how I felt right then.

 _~Hours later._

The four of us were over at the destroyed building downtown helping to clear of some junk along with several other local residents.

I stopped what I was doing to look over at Austin who seemed to be working incredibly hard at helping to lift some of the equipment. Just like in school, everyone couldn't help but stare and be drawn to him whether they liked him at first glance or not. It was hard to look away whenever he was in a room because his presence alone was so glorifying and striking, it was hard not to notice him. I understood why everyone was so initially drawn to him and why they watched his every move because that's how I was on the day that I first met him. He wiped the sweat of his forehead and walked past a couple girls who were busy drooling over him before heading outside to lit a cigarette. I watched as he crouched down onto the pavement and blew in the whiff of his cigarette smoke whilst covering his eyes with his hand. It was hard to know what went on in his mind the majority of the time as it was filled with many unanswered secrets that I desperately wanted to find out.

"Ally, Dez is going to buy us all some drinks do you want anything?" Trish asked walking up to me alongside Dez. I nodded my head at him and he smiled before wiping the sweat of his forehead and turning to walk towards the door. "Uh I need a break, I wonder if Austin would let me borrow a cigarette since I left mine at the room. Can you go ask him for me?" she pleaded clasping her hands together and pouting her lips.

"What, why me?" I chuckled, whilst arching a brow up at her.

"Because you're the only one he sorta talks to, and its obvious that he doesn't like me that well, so go" she said before pushing me towards the door.

I rolled my eyes playfully at her before taking a deep breath and heading out the door to crouch down on the pavement besides Austin. I was about to speak up but before I could, he quickly handed me his pack of cigarettes and lighter and I chuckled, realising that he had overheard our conversation inside. As we sat there in silence, with the gentle breeze blowing past us, it brought me back to the night last week where we had sat together for hours, enjoying nothing but the feel of each others comfort. I wonder if he still thought about that day like I did. I quickly turned around to throw Trish the cigarette pack and lighter from inside before turning my full attention to him. I closed my eyes and swung my head back, allowing myself to be completely taken by the feeling of the warm against skin. I had never cared to enjoy a moment like that in all my life, but somehow sitting there with him, made me feel so at peace, not only in myself but also in my surroundings.

Seconds later, I slowly fluttered my eyes open to see him staring down at me with his cigarette pressed between his lips. The way he looked at me was unlike anything I had ever witnessed before, he looked at me like I was the most fascination thing he had ever seen, like he had never properly looked at me before till then. Moments later, he slowly removed his eyes from me before turning to face the road and watch cars drive by.

"I...I was thinking about that homeless man we sat and watched the other day. Is he the reason why you wanted to help out here?" I asked speaking up to avoid any more awkward tension between us. He took another whiff of his cigarette before slowly nodding his head and I smiled before shifting closer to him a little. "He must be really special to you then, he told me that you were the one who gave him the ukulele" I chuckled as my mind immediately drifted back to that night which I found difficult to forget about.

"It belonged to him, I was just giving it back" he muttered quietly, leaving me puzzled as I wondered what he had meant by that, but I knew that I certainly wasn't going to get the answer by asking.

I smirked to myself before removing the cigarette from his lips and placing it between mine. He watched surprisingly as I blew a small whiff in his direction before flicking my hair back dramatically, mocking how Ana had flirted with him earlier on. He shifted his eyes away from me and before I could say anything else, I noticed the creases by the corner of his mouth begin to slowly stretch. It all felt like a blur at first, I was sure I was dreaming just by the look of it, but as he smiled down at the ground, I was immediately blown away by the beauty it showed. Realising that this was the first time I had ever seen him show an emotion of happiness, I was completely awe struck by the beauty of such a simple, yet effective smile. It was one of those rare smiles that you hardly ever got to see in life, but once you got the chance to, you just couldn't look away from it, no matter how hard you try. I still think about that first smile even till this day.

 _~A while later._

"Hey Ally, has Dez called or texted you?" Trish asked walking up to Austin and I.

I quickly got up from the pavement before pulling out my phone to see no missed calls. "No he hasn't, I was just going to go and ask you, he's been gone for a while" I said whilst stuffing my phone back inside my pocket. Trish ran her fingers through her hair and paced back and fourth nervously before looking down at staring of into the roads. "That idiot he was just supposed to go buy drinks not go missing for an hour. We have to go find him, I'm worried that he could be in some sort of danger" she panicked whilst rubbing her forehead. I did my best to calm her down as best as I possibly could, before running inside to get our bags and running back out.

"Austin lets go, we have to go find Dez" I said whilst starting to panic as each second passed.

The smile on his face that left me feeling like I was on top of the world was long gone, and was replaced with his usual blank and emotionless expression. Even though the smile had only lasted a couple of seconds, I wish I could've seen more of it. "He'll be fine, he can look after himself, can't he" he murmured under his breath before rubbing his eyes together and getting up from the ground. Trish took a step closer to him and crossed her arms above her chest impatiently before speaking up. "He can't look after himself, he needs me, I've always been there for him at all times and my instincts are telling me that he' in some sort of trouble so help us find him-

"When are you gonna stop treating him like a baby when you know one day you're gonna have to let him go" he uttered quickly cutting her of her sentence. Trish stared up at him for a brief while before lowering her head down to the ground as she contemplated his words. She knew that what he said was true, but she loved Dez too much to accept the fact that one day there won't be a time where she's protecting him just like she had done for the past fourteen years of both their lives, because unfortunately that's how life is. Nothing lasts forever even though we want them too, and no matter how hard we fight for the things we want, it doesn't mean it would last a lifetime, because all things must come to an end, and it took me a while to truly realise that.

As heavy silence filled the air around us, I sighed to myself before going to step in the middle of Austin and Trish. "Guys, lets not do this right now okay. Please just help us find Dez, Austin" I pleaded before searching into his eyes for some sign of sincerity. He stared down at me for a brief while before slipping his hands into his pockets and leading away and I smiled before pulling a dazed of Trish along with me.

I wasn't sure how long we searched around for him. After a while it felt as if we seemed to be going round and round in circles asking people if they've seen him anywhere around. The hard part was not knowing if Dez was okay or not since we couldn't reach him through his phone, but the hardest part was trying to keep Trish under control from losing her mind. The thought of anything bad happening to Dez drove her insane, much worse as it did to me, and she just didn't know how to cope with the idea. Austin on the other hand remained calm through it all almost as if nothing was happening, and his constant attitude of 'not caring' about anything was beginning to piss me off. I knew that he had a heart, I was probably the first person in a long time to see him smile that day, but it felt as if he was purposely acting like an ass-hole to make me forget all about it. Why did he want people to see him in a negative way? why did he want them thinking he was a horrible and heartless person instead of good?. It made no sense, but I would quickly come to realise the real reason sooner than I thought. After hours of walking around town trying to find a trace of him, we had decided to head back to the hotel to ask for some help due to the fact that it was slowly getting dark. We rushed inside the hotel and over to our rooms to put on some warmer clothes as it was beginning to get a little chilly outside. We hurried up the stairs and down the corridor, till we spotted Dez sitting down on the floor with his back pressed against him and Austin's room. I breathed out a sigh of relief and placed my hand above my chest as Trish and I quickly rushed over to him.

As he got up from the floor to greet us, we ran into his arms non-hesitantly and hugged him tightly, like it was out first time seeing him again after so many years. "You idiot, where were you?, we've been looking for you for hours, I thought something bad had happened to you, why didn't you call?!" Trish sighed bombarding him with questions. Dez gazed over at Austin who leaned on the wall gazing back at us before opening his mouth to speak up. "Well I sorta got lost on the way to buy the drinks, and I walked around around trying to find my way back and when I did, they told me you guys had already left so I thought you went back to the hotel, and when I came back I couldn't find you, I realised that I couldn't call you because my battery had died and uh... Austin has the keys to the room" he explained before looking back at Austin a little anxiously.

"We're just glad you're okay Dez, and you really should charge your phone more before you go out" I smiled whilst rubbing his shoulder gently. I watched as Trish pulled him into another hug before looking over at Austin who slowly made his way over to us. Avoiding my gaze, he quickly brought out the room key from under his pocket before throwing it over to Dez, who struggled to catch it at first, before opening the door to the room. As the four of us slowly stepped inside and shut the door behind us, the heavy tension started to build up in the air. It was transparent, but the look on Austin and Trish's face made it seem so visible and deadly, and I knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Don't you have anything to say to Dez, I mean we basically just spent hours looking for him. If you haven't realised ass-hole we're all trying to be your friends here so the least you could do is put more fucking effort in!" Trish snapped whilst crossing her arms above her chest as Dez and I sat on the bed. I was about to get up and tell her to calm down as usual, but before I could, Austin quickly knocked over a couple things in anger. I took a step back in fear as he held onto his hand to stop himself from almost exploding, but even that didn't seem to stop Trish. "Keep knocking over stuff that you're gonna have to probably pay for, you don't scare me anymore Austin! having a shitty past doesn't give you a reason to act like a fucking shitty person because there are people that's probably been through worse than you. You're just selfish that's what you are, and you're gonna end up even more miserable and depressed if you don't change who you are, and-

"Would you just shut the fuck up!" Austin yelled startling her a little and causing Dez to lower his head and sit closely to himself. "What the fuck do you know about me, what the fuck do any of you know about me!" he yelled louder with his voice breaking on every word, almost as if he was trying to hold back a lot of things in that moment.

"P-Please stop fighting, please stop" Dez pleaded in a low and quiet voice and before I knew it he had slowly began to slap his forehead with his hand. My eyes widened as I quickly ran over to stop him, but before I could get nearer he had quickly shoved me away before getting up from the bed and going to bang his head against the wall. Trish placed her hand on her frustratingly and sighed before rushing over to stop him. She pleaded for me to come help her and without hesitation, I quickly got up from the floor and ran over to them. Just like the day when I had first saw him lose it, it had escalated quickly, and although I got involved this time, I still felt completely helpless. I watched as Dez quickly kicked Trish away causing her to fall to the floor, as I tried my best to hold him down from there. "Dez... Dez look at me, its okay, they're not fighting anymore, no one's fighting anymore so please calm down, please" I pleaded desperately trying to hold his hand back down, but it still didn't work. It was one of the hardest things that I had to do as I had to plead with him both emotionally and physically, but none of it seemed to work.

After a while, I turned my head to look at Austin who stood frozen to the ground, almost as if he had just seen a ghost. His eyes had quickly turned dark as it focused on Dez and his mouth hung slightly open, almost like he was witnessing something he had witnessed some time ago. I turned my attention to Trish as she sat on the floor whilst covering her face with her hands. Normally she was the person that was always front and centre to calm Dez down whenever he wasn't able to control his anger, but this time she sat helplessly on the floor refusing to even look at him, and I could tell that she was fed up. She loved him, but she was fed up with it all, we all were. "Dez just please stop, just please stop okay" I exclaimed with tears filling my eyes as I tried to hold him back from grabbing the lamp at the bedside to smash over his head. Just when I was about to completely give up all hope in trying to get him to calm down, I heard a voice yell and I quickly looked over to see that it was Austin.

"You think you're the only one with a fucking problem?!" he yelled furiously as Trish slowly lifted her head up to look at him.

Before I knew it, Dez began to slowly calm down by the sound of his serious and intense voice and I breathed out a sigh of relief before placing my hand on my forehead and breathing out rapidly. I looked back at Austin to see him running his hands through his face as his fingers trembled rapidly, and I slowly got up from the floor to walk over to him. Before my hand could come into contact with his shoulder, he forcefully shoved me away causing me to stumble back, and it was then that I truly had enough. Without hesitation, I quickly raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face, causing the connection to echo around the room. He stood still for a moment with his face turned to the side, but seconds later he had turned to face me and it was a look that I truly wasn't expecting. I stared up at him with both anger and frustration and he did the same, before turning around to walk out the door without looking back at me.

As he slammed the door shut, I took a deep breath before slowly turning around to see Trish still sited in the floor whilst staring of into space. I gazed at her for a couple seconds before looking over at Dez who laid on the floor into a ball in regret of what he had just did. I stared at the two of them as I tried to understand how it had all went wrong so quickly, and why things had to escalate the way it did.

* * *

 ** _Well that was intense! will they ever get along with Austin and with each other?. Like I said in the beginning this story isn't like most usual stories you would read so be prepared to expect the unexpected. But anyway, if you enjoyed this roller coaster of a chapter don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it._**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

The morning after had initially came with a blur and all that had happened the day before left a lasting bitter and spiteful taste in each of us.

I sat near the window in Trish and I's hotel room whilst gazing out the window at Austin who sat far away on the beach smoking. It was a dull and grey morning, the sun was nowhere to be seen and the clouds loomed the sky all around. Due to the incident that had occurred the night before, he had remained there the whole night as still as the ocean, probably lost in his whirlwind of thoughts of emotions. I didn't regret slapping him, in fact I wasn't so sure if I would speak to him that day, due to all the trouble he had caused and how he had pushed me away after I had tried so hard to let him know that I wanted to be there for him, but I couldn't ignore that look on his face whenever he looked at me, it was always so soft and genuine, almost as if I was a piece of treasure that had been missing his whole life, but was too scared to touch or go near it. I wonder if he ever noticed the way I looked at him too in the early days, I wonder if he noticed how incredibly fascinated I was by him, I wonder if he had any idea just how badly I wanted to see him smile each and every time. Those early days were a little awkward and uncomfortable to say the least, and even though we saw one another almost every week day, it hurts to know that we wasted so many days with each other.

Seeing as I had been gazing at him all morning, I sighed and shifted my head away before turning to look at Trish who sat on the bed whilst gazing over at Dez, who sat on a stool looking away from her. Ever since his tantrum the night before, he had remained quite silent and distance, which was odd as he was usually a talkative person, and I could tell it was all because he felt ashamed, ashamed of something he couldn't quite control. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't anybody's fault, but I guess I was just a fool in thinking we could all get along with the one guy who everyone made sure to stay away from for a reason. I guess that's what I deserve for caring too much about him, when I thought that he clearly didn't feel the same way back.

After several more minutes of sitting in complete silence, Trish cleared her throat before deciding to speak up. She glanced over at me, not knowing if she should at first, but she just couldn't stand the silence between the three of us any longer. "Did... did I do something wrong Dez?" she asked in a quiet tone, different from her usual tone of voice. "Are you angry at me? you haven't said a word to me since morning... listen I know we have to help rebuild the shelter again today, but after that we can do anything you want, if you wanna go home early we can and-

"Just stop it Trish" Dez sighed cutting her off. Those words shocked her a whole lot. Trish was the one who made all the decisions in their friendship, even though she seeked his approval most of the time, she still had the final say, but her care for him was sometimes overwhelming to say the least, but that was all because her biggest fear in life was losing him. "I know you're tired of me okay, you've been stuck with me for fourteen years I get it, I don't want to hold you back even more, but I don't like the way you spoke to Austin yesterday" he muttered quietly. The room went silent for a brief moment as Trish studied him, almost as if she was trying to find some sense in his words. It was a crucial time for the both of them, and seeing as how I had only known them for a couple weeks, I made sure to stay out of it to allow them to sort out their problems.

"What are you talking about?" Trish scoffed getting up from the bed and crossing her arms above her chest. She looked over at me to get my input on the situation, but I had quickly avoided eye contact by turning my head to face the window and lighting a cigarette that was beside me. She took a couple steps closer to him and sighed before rubbing her head frustratingly. "I'm not tired of you Dez, I'm never gonna be tired of you. You just didn't stop yesterday and I didn't know what to do, and it took him shouting at you to get you to stop? why did you listen to him and not me after I tried everything? he doesn't even know or care about you like I do Dez, I've always been there for you for-

"Just fucking stop" he sighed again whilst rubbing his eyes before getting up from the stool to look down at her. "Do you know how hard it is for him to spend time with us when he's never had any friends and is so used to being alone. He doesn't know me and you're right he probably doesn't care about me, but he still spent hours yesterday searching for me with you and Ally, and you still spoke to him like he was a piece of shit. You don't fucking know what he's been through in life, so you can't judge him because of the way he is because he probably has a hard time opening up and expressing how he feels. You embarrassed me yesterday Trish, and if it wasn't for Ally, I would've really hurt myself just because of the way you spoke to him" he spoke leaving her lost for words. Till then I never knew just how much Dez cared about Austin and how much his opinion mattered so much him, even under all the unfortunate circumstances we had been through.

I blew a whiff of smoke into the air as Trish gazed up at him shocked and in disbelief. There was a time when Dez only cared about nothing but her and her only, but that wasn't the case anymore, and she didn't know how to handle it. Just like Austin had said the day before that there would be a time when she had to let him go, no matter how hard she tried to fight for it not to happen.

"I'm going to apologise to Austin, and I think you should too" he said looking back at me before turning around to walk towards the door.

As he closed the door gently, Trish and I turned to look at each other. She was confused and in disbelief but despite how she felt about Austin, she would do almost anything to make Dez happy, and so she did. I looked back at Austin through the window before getting up and walking over to her, and with that the two of us exited the room together. The walk from the hotel down to the beach felt like an eternity, even though it was only a few minutes walk. I remember how my arms swaying, simultaneously, back and forth, as my stilt-like legs seemed to be dragging me further and further, I remember how my heart seemed to beat louder and louder in my chest as if it were a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode. I knew that I wasn't ready to face him again after last night, I wouldn't know what to say to him, but for some reason I just couldn't find it in myself to stop and turn back around. It was almost as if a magnetic force was pulling me towards him with every step that I took.

As we stepped onto the dry sand, my ears were instantly filled with the sound of the waves flowing back and fourth. As the strong breeze blew my hair to the side, I glanced over at Dez, who stuffed his hands inside his pockets nervously before taking a seat down on the sand next to Austin, who seemed oblivious to the fact that he was there. Trish and I took one last look at each other, before slowly walking over to them. She sat on the sand besides Dez, whilst I stood behind them with my arms crossed. It was silent between the four of us for a while, and it almost felt as if none of us knew what to say or do to clear the tensed awkwardness in the air.

"Uhm..." Dez began a little anxiously. "Ally and Trish told me that you had a little brother with my disorder and I just wanna say that I'm sorry for yesterday... I never really thought you knew my name or knew who I was even though we're in three classes together, but I'm happy that you do. I uh... I've always thought you were cool and I just want you to know that I have your back anytime" he stated briefly before looking back up at me. Austin blew a whiff of his cigarette, which was pressed between in his lips as he lowered his head, whilst listening to all that Dez had to say. At first he looked like, he just wanted him to get lost or get as far away from him as possible, but after a while he had started to relax a little, and even though he didn't verbally accept his apology, I could tell that he was still happy nonetheless.

Dez turned his head to look at Trish before nudging her, signalling for her to say something. She stared up at him for a brief moment before letting out a small sigh and speaking up. "Listen, Austin... I don't know you and you don't know me, but that doesn't mean we can't try to get along and be friends. I'm sorry about what I said about your past yesterday, I don't know shit about what you've been through, but I shouldn't have crossed the line because I was angry... you don't have to forgive me, but I just want you to know I'm sorry" she said in a quiet tone before slowly getting up from the sand and pulling Dez up with her. "You should come back to the hotel and get ready, we have to head down to the shelter soon" she uttered before looking over at me and flashing me a small smile. I smiled back and watched as her and Dez slowly walked back over to the hotel hand in hand before turning back to look back around.

The sand beneath my feet glittered brightly in the mere sunlight, that seemed to be slowly pushing its way out of the clouds. I lifted my head back up to see Austin looking back at me. He held a deep eye contact with me that I was sure meant something, but I couldn't quite figure it out. As he got up from the sand, my eyes fixated on every move, unable to look away. As he glanced down at me, I could tell that there were things that he wanted to say, but he just didn't know how to say it, so instead he stood in silence, with his brown eyes focused only on me just as I was on him. After a short while, I slowly shifted my head away and without looking back at him, I turned around and took a deep breath before slowly walking back to the hotel. I was stuck on my words unable to speak, and was initially left with no choice but to walk away from him, whilst trying my hardest not to look back.

* * *

 _~Later on in the day._

It was sometime in the afternoon and the four of us were down at the shelter helping out.

I wiped the sweat of my forehead and took of my jacket before glancing over at Austin who helped some people do some heavy lifting from outside. We hadn't said a single word to each other till then, and it didn't look like we were going to either. Whenever I was around him, I found myself avoiding him or trying to distance myself around him and I wasn't sure why. I guess I was a little anxious to look straight into his eyes again especially seeing as how things had escalated the night before. I smiled a small smile to myself as I watched Dez quickly rush over to help Austin with the heavy lifting. It was nice seeing them get along for a little while, despite how much Dez reminded him of his late brother.

Austin placed some boxes down and ran his fingers through his hair before turning his head to catch my gaze, and without hesitation, I quickly turn my head away back to Trish who sat behind me, whilst eating a sandwich. She looked past me before arching her brow at me and speaking up. "You're the one who forced us to be his friend and now you're not even talking to him?... you know that he hasn't stopped looking at you since we got here right" she said, causing me to rub my head frustratingly. "You know he's not that bad after all, when we were on our way here on the bus he said thank you to Dez and I for the apology, it was all he said but as he said it, he smiled, I've never seen him smile before and I never thought he could" she chuckled, glancing back over at Austin who watched Dez ramble on about something. I never knew that one person's smile could completely fascinate anybody that sees it. It was as if the more he went without showing any happy emotion, the more intriguing he got.

Moments later, I heard slow footsteps walking towards me and I immediately knew that it was him. I didn't have to turn around to know, because it was as if I could feel his presence. As he got closer and closer to me, I felt his body heat radiating of me. It felt so overwhelming standing near him, that my vision began to go blurry and my heart beat began to instantly quicken. I wouldn't be surprised if he could hear it too. He stood behind me for a while not saying anything, till I finally found the courage in me to face him, and when I did, I knew that it was going to be difficult to look away from those eyes. The motion of his eyes closing and opening was captivating enough, and as we locked full eye contact with each other for that infinite moment, it almost felt as if we were one, like it was meaningless and pointless to ever look away.

He took a deep breath, and in a low and hoarse tone he finally spoke up. "Do you wanna go somewhere?" he asked, leaving me a little lost for words. I thought he was joking for a split second, I mean it was crazy and overwhelming to think that he wanted to be alone with me, but after staring back into his eyes, I realized that he was dead serious.

"W-Where?" I stammered, whilst stuffing my hands into my short jean pockets. He opened his mouth to answer, but instantly closed it before turning around to walk away, initiating for me to follow him. I looked back at Trish, who stared back at me in disbelief, not believing what had just happened. I said my goodbyes to her and grabbed my jacket to the side before rushing out the door to where he had walked out, trying to catch up to him. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I continued to follow him nonetheless. Although, he didn't say anything to me whilst we were walking, he still made sure to stand close to me, almost as if he was now comfortable with me without knowing it himself. I made sure to stand close to him just as much, until there was no space left between us. A sudden aura began to slowly cloud around us, and before I knew it, I found my hand slowly edging towards his ever so slightly. I quickly realized what I was doing, and was about to pull my hand back away, until I felt his fingertips brush my hand. I smiled and unfurled my fingers and let his slip around mine, until I could feel the heat of his palm pressed against my own. There was a first time for everything, and there was also a time where you desperately wished a moment like that could never end. For the next half hour, we strolled over to wherever we going in silence as his large and soft hands interlocked with mine, and not letting go until we got there. It was truly one of the best and unexpected moments of my life.

As we arrived at a big, empty field, I felt his muscles tensed up as he quickly pulled his hand away from mine, before shoving his balled fists in his pocket and walking ahead, almost as if he was too nervous to look at me. I looked down at my hand to feel the warmth of his gone, before sighing to myself and turning my head to look around the place.

The field was filled with many different types of flowers, from daffodils and daisies as yellow as the sun at midday. A murder of crows lay on the horizon of the small field, sitting on the fence as if it were its only home. The middle of the field was a lush green and it was fair. On the ground lay weeds that were plentiful but gentle. Their leaves wrapped around others in a web. The blue sky complimented the field in more ways than one. It made the daffodils and daises dazzle with the colors of a fire, and the sky was an aroma of fire and warmth. The clouds, white with hints of blue, made the weeds grow in depth as they gave the weeds rain to let it live. The field was colorful and simple and it was a view to see. I turned my head to the side to see a small lake, in which Austin had walked over to bend down and wash his face. It was truly a beautiful and rare sight and I wondered just how he knew of a special place like that.

After taking my time in looking around, I slowly sat down, before tracing my fingers on the warm and thin grass. The atmosphere was so peaceful, that it made you wish you could remain there forever. I gazed out into space, as I thought back to the feeling of Austin's hands with mine. It wasn't the first time I had ever held hands with a boy, and I didn't really see hand holding as something that was a big deal, until I held his. I turned my head to glance back at him, as he looked around the place, before getting up from beside the lake and going to take a seat beside me, making sure to leave a clear space between us.

"How did you know about this place?" I quickly asked, to avoid any awkwardness from spiraling between the both of us.

He glanced over at a palm tree for a brief moment before speaking up. "My parents took me and my brother here when we were younger, they sat in this spot as they watched us play over there" he replied, pointing back to the palm tree. I knew that his mother was in prison due to something I wasn't quite aware of yet, and his brother was dead, but I wondered what had happened to his Father. I knew that I wouldn't instantly get the answer if I just asked, seeing as he had taken this long to open up a small piece of his life to me, but I still appreciated it nonetheless. "Listen... I just wanted to say I'm sorry about yesterday, I deserved that slap" he muttered looking down at a grass.

Without thinking, I placed my hand on his chin and lifted his head up so that he could face me, before flashing him a genuine and happy smile. "That's the most words I've ever heard you say in a sentence" I chuckled before removing my hand from his chin and smiling up at him. For a split second, I thought that he had smiled back, but thinking back to it now, it might have just been all in my head.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes, allowing the warm breeze to blow past us and touch against our skin. I wanted to feel more closer to him in some type of way possible, as well as wanting to let him know how grateful I was that he had taken me to such a beautiful place like this, I also wanted him to feel more closer to me too. I slowly looked back up at him to see his blonde hair blowing in the wind and covering his face slightly as he gazed of into the distance with a blank and distraught expression. It was as if the longer, he sat there, the more memories of his past seemed to come back to him.

I looked straight ahead before sighing to myself and deciding to speak up. "Life really does suck doesn't it" I muttered as he slowly turned his head to glance down at me. "I used to live in Washington, I've lived there all my life, I was kinda happy there, but after my parents told me that we were moving to Miami... I was devastated" I began before glancing down at my sandals. "My Dad said we moved because of his new job here, but my mom said it was because she wanted a new start on their marriage. We haven't always got along, I've always had some issues with them, especially my Dad. Two weeks ago I got in a serious fight with him and he kicked me out of the house, my mom did what she always did and stayed by his side, just like she's done ever since she married him... if it wasn't for Trish then I would've had know where to go, but even after all that, I still can't help but feel like its all my fault, like I caused this to myself" I chuckled remembering all what that happened on that horrific night, which still haunted me in my sleep.

"Why are you telling me all this?" he asked in a low tone.

"Its because... we're friends... and friends tell each other everything, I just wanted you to know" I said gazing up at him a little teary-eyed.

As I start to think back to the emotional trauma I had suffered in the hands of my Parents, I suddenly found it difficult to hold back the tears in my eyes. Looking away from Austin, I quickly laid on the grass and turned to the side so I couldn't properly face him. I felt the wet hot tears fill up my eyes, my throat closed tight as I tried holding back all the emotions I was feeling inside me. All the pain that I had been keeping trapped in for the past two weeks had caught up to me and I could no longer hold them in. Finally the tears split over and rapidly flowed from my eyes like a river escaping a dam, and a flood of tears gushed down my cheeks. Crying was my one true weakness, and it was as if no matter how hard I tried to stop it, I could no longer control my emotions. He was the last person that I wanted to hear me cry, despite how long I cried for, he sat quietly listening to it all. Turning around to look at him was the last thing I wanted to do as I feared that I might break down even more.

Moments later, I felt him place his jacket on top of me to cover me up, and it only made me cry more as it was something I truly wasn't expecting. I clutched tightly onto his jacket, inhaling in the smell of his fresh scent whilst closing my eyes shut.

"My brother died three years ago" he spoke causing me to slowly open my eyes. "He was only a year younger than me, but I still had to raise him by myself. When our mom got sentenced to 20+ years in prison, I took him and ran away so we wouldn't have to be put in a foster home and separated from each other. He loved to talk, he was the most talkative and happy person I knew, despite all we were going through. As years went by, I started to become more stressed and angry due to our poor living situation and life overall, and he saw that and couldn't do anything about it. One night I came home back to our apartment and I went into his room... and saw that he had hung himself" he explained briefly with his voice breaking on every word. I truly couldn't believe all what I was hearing. "He left me a note saying how he couldn't bear to see me so depressed and miserable any longer so he killed himself instead. I didn't say a single word for a whole year... it was all my fault, i-if I could've just pretended that I was happy for his sake, he wouldn't have killed himself because of me" he exclaimed, cursing under his breath afterwards.

I slowly lifted my head up from the grass and turned my head around to see him covering his face with his hand. Without hesitation, I shifted closer to him and rapidly swung my arms around him, pulling his head down onto my shoulder. Even though his whole life had literally fell apart after his brother Aaron died, he still remained strong even though he was slowly breaking inside each and every day. For years he had nobody. He had nobody to hold him and tell him that things were going to be okay whenever he was feeling upset, he had nobody to care for him and always be there for him, he had nobody to make him happy and keep him company at all times, and more importantly, he had nobody to love and be loved back. It was then that I decided that whatever happened, I was going to be that somebody, that he's been missing in his life for so long.

 _~Hours later._

My eyes slowly fluttered open, and I yawned silently to myself before glancing up at the beautiful and calming sunset. By the time the sun was setting, the sky was painted an array of pink, orange yellow, and the pale glow of the night's moon was beginning to show.

I stared up at the sky peacefully, before looking to my side to see Austin fast asleep next to me. I laid back down to stare at his sleeping face, not wanting to wake up as he looked so comfortable and peaceful. We had cried and embraced each other for so long that I felt closer to him more than I had ever felt with anyone in my life. I had only known him for a couple weeks then, but it truly felt like he had been in my life for years and I had been his. In only a short space of time, our relationship with each other had became un-explainable, we had become such good friends, but it felt like something more.

As his eyes began to slowly open, I smiled to myself before lifting my head back up to check the time on my phone. Realizing that it was past 7 pm, I quickly got up from the ground before dusting of my blouse and jean shorts. "Austin, we should go, I have a lot of missed calls from Trish and Dez, they're probably worried about where we are" I chuckled to myself, glancing down at all the missed calls and texts they had left me. Austin rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair before getting up from the ground. He turned his head to look around the place in a nonchalant yet morose way, almost as if he was saying goodbye to the place that brought him good yet painful memories from his past that he often dreaded to think about to avoid more and more heart ache.

As we walked out of the field side by side, I felt his hand slowly grasp through mine and I smiled and bit down onto my lip, before opening my hand up, allowing him to interlock it with his. Just like before we held each other's hands in silence, but this time we made sure to take our time as we didn't want that moment between us to end. It was one of the moments I remember so well, due to how comfortable we felt with each other. There were no awkward pauses or awkward glances at each other. It almost felt as if we were long time lovers having a scandalous affair, but could no longer hide our relationship out in public. It had started to rain, but that didn't stop us, as we continued to walk slowly down the empty street with nothing but the comfort of each other. A few people that walked by might have thought we were absoulutely crazy, as they were all rushing to get under some sort of shelter due to the pouring rain, but neither of us was fazed by it all.

I brushed through his palm gently and squeezed his hand tightly, even though his were much larger than mine, and he smiled a small smile for a split second, causing me to chuckle. I was about to speak up, but stopped as I spotted a man running in our direction. He had in his hand a full sack of something unexpected and looked to be in a hurry. Without hesitation, he quickly shoved me away and threw the sack into Austin's arms, causing us to break away from each other. We opened the sack to see that it was a large amount of money and my eyes slowly widened as I look back at the man who seemed to be running away as quickly as possible, almost as his life depended on it.

"Hey!" I called going to run after him. I ran and ran, until I realized that I could no longer catch up to him before stopping to catch my breath.

I turned back around to run back to Austin, but before I could, I noticed a police car rapidly pull up in front of him, and before I could process what was happening, two policemen had quickly stepped out the car to snatch the sack of money of Austin before forcefully and aggressively pushing him down onto the floor and handcuffing him to his hands to the back. "What! get the fuck of me!" Austin hissed trying to struggle out of their tight grips, but they pushed him down further to the ground and pressed his head down onto the concrete to refrain him from speaking. "You have the right to remain silent kid. If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law... fucking thief!" one of the police offers uttered before forcefully picking him up the ground.

Without hesitation, I quickly rushed over to them as my heart started to seemingly beat out of my chest. "Officers he didn't steal the money" I explained, whilst rapidly breathing in and out. "Some man just ran and threw the money in his hands and ran off and he ran that way" I explained pointing to the direction that he had ran off to.

"Listen kid, why don't you go home or something, its getting dark" the policeman spoke rolling his eyes at me, before stuffing Austin inside the car. I had tried to stop them as best as I possibly could, but it was just no use. "You can't arrest him for something that he didn't do, can't you both just listen to me, the real thief ran that way!" I snapped getting aggravated by the second. Of course they had ignored me and quickly gotten back inside the front seats. My fingers began to tremble rapidly and my vision began to go blurry as I glanced down at Austin through the car window as he lowered his head with his eyes shut. I went to press my hand on the window, but before I could, they had quickly drove off, leaving me with a desolated and empty feeling inside.

What was I to simply do then?.

* * *

 ** _Ooo little cliff hanger for y'all. This chapter took a couple days to write as I couldn't find the time to finish it, due to all my assignments I have to get done in time. I'll try and upload quicker for you guys as best as I can hopefully, even though I'm almost starting my exams._**

 ** _Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and A &A slowly getting closer to each other. Don't forget to leave a review and let me know if you enjoyed this chapter and what you think will happen in the next with Austin's arrest._**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

 _ **For those of you asking I can't do an Austin POV as this is Ally's story she's telling about her past. It will all make sense in the end.**_

* * *

Even though the next morning had came rather quickly, I still couldn't process what had happened the day before.

The day was overcast and gloomy, dark clouds, heavy with rain were ready to burst. The clouds thundered and flashed streaks of lightening across the sky line, then droplets of rain started falling, sprinkling down on the dim windows along the way. There was a few at first, and within a short time it turned into a heavy downpour, there was a wall of water raining down you could hardly see through. With that thick cloud that lingered in the air, almost mocking how I felt inside, I wondered how long it would continue to rain that day.

It had took a while to find the police station that Austin was taken to. It was a small town, but somehow finding him took longer than expected. I sat inside the police station room along with Trish, Dez and Ana as we waited to talk to somebody about freeing Austin. It wasn't fair that he had to spend the night there, it wasn't fair that he couldn't fight back as harder than he could've seeing as he didn't do anything wrong. I would never forget that look in his eyes as he was handcuffed and forced inside the police car by the two policemen. He was tired, fed up with everything most of all, he had no more strength in him, almost like he couldn't fight back if he wanted to, and the worse part about all of that was there was nothing I could do about it right then. I allowed myself to take them away when I, myself could've fought harder. After promising myself to be the person he needed most in his life just the day before, I had already began to fail helplessly.

I glanced over at the rain pouring down from outside once again before crossing my arms above my chest. As I sat there waiting, it felt like hours had passed by, when in reality it had only been less than half an hour. I took a deep breath whilst trying to calm myself down, but that didn't seem to be enough for me. Knowing that Austin was still locked up and there was nothing I could do to free him, pained me more than anything, and made me feel like it was all my fault. It felt like the longer I waited for somebody to inform us about him, the worse my thoughts became.

"Should we at least ask to see him again?" Dez asked breaking the tensed silence, that lingered around us ever since we took our seats. "They already said no Dez, we just have to wait to see what happens" Trish sighed running her fingers through his hair as he rested his head on her shoulder I turned my head to look over at them, before looking over at Ana, who sat besides me texting on her phone. I looked closely down at the phone, and after a few seconds my eyes quickly widened as I wasted no time snatching it away from her.

"Are you outta your mind, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" she hissed going to snatch the phone back from my hands, but before she could, I quickly got up from my seat and took a step back so she couldn't come anywhere not me.

"No, what is wrong with you!" I snapped drawing a little attention over to us. "I begged you all morning not to tell our school about Austin's arrest and now you're texting them about it? fuck you! do you realise that he could get expelled if they find out he was arrested again, this time for something that he clearly didn't do. You're a bitch you know that" I hissed, bitterly letting the words roll out of my mouth. She gazed down at me a little shocked and annoyed that I had raised my voice at her before scoffing to herself and speaking up. "Listen Ally, your school informed me that I should let them know if anything bad happens whilst you guys are here. I didn't sign up for this bullshit okay, they told me to keep an eye out especially on Austin and report to them if he causes a disturbance. I'm just doing my job sweetie so hand me back my phone" she spoke rudely, getting up to my face. I glared up at her with so much hatred and anger flowing through my body, that I wasn't sure how long I could control myself for.

"I'm sure our school would also like to know how you've been inappropriately flirting with one of their students" Trish spoke up, getting up to stand beside me. "You've been batting your fake eyelashes at Austin ever since we got here, so you keep your mouth shut and we'll do the same... and before you ask yes I am threatening you" she scoffed raising an eye at her. I flashed a smile down at Trish before throwing the phone back at Ana. She stared down at the both of us with a wicked and frightening look before turning around to walk towards the entrance door. "Bitch" Trish muttered under her breath before going to take her seat beside Dez, as I watched Ana exit out the building.

As I sat back down beside Trish, I started to grow more and more impatient by the second. The rain pouring down outside and the murmurs of people all around the lobby was enough to drive me insane. I couldn't sit there any longer whilst blaming myself for what had happened yesterday, so instead, I stood up from my seat once again and marched over to the police receptionist as Trish and Dez quickly followed from behind.

"Excuse me, we've been waiting here for a while now for our friend who was wrongly arrested yesterday. I'd like to talk to your chief of police or something" I said sternly, whilst clenching my fists down on the desk.

He studied my face for a brief while, almost as if he was trying to figure something out, before walking out of his desk. "Follow me Miss" he said before walking ahead. "Guys, I'll handle this just wait here" I smiled back at the two of them before running after him. The walk over to the chief of police's office felt like an eternity. It felt as if every step I took, all eyes were suddenly on me, but I didn't care about any of that right then. The only thing on my mind was Austin and wanting to get him out of that wretched place as soon as possible.

After a while, we approached a big, brown wooden door on the other side of the building, which he knocked on and waited patiently for some sort of reply. "Come in" a husky and deep voice came from the inside, and he slowly stepped inside the room, leaving me to follow in from behind. I looked around at the cold and lifeless walls, before looking over at the chief of police who sat behind his desk excessively. His aged skin was moulded into an almost permanent scowl that seemed to live a bitter and frightening feeling around the room. Years of unhappiness were etched by every deep line and wrinkle on his face. His pensive eyes never focused on anything as he seemed to be permanently lost deep into his thoughts and unhappiness. His lips were slightly turned down and his forehead had deep creases that pulled his eyebrows down, as if he were glaring directly at me. Constantly angry with the melancholy that washed over him.

"Sir, this is a friend of the thief arrested yesterday by Officer Barnes and Smith. She insisted to speak with you" the receptionist uttered nodding his head, before turning around to exit the door.

As the sound of the door closed shut, the thick and heavy silence in the room began to grow. He signalled for me to take a sit across from him, and I looked at him a little unwillingly before doing as told. Due to the silence in the room, I could hear the metal doors clang shut from outside, followed by the sound of keys jingling. Footsteps of the only free people in the high-ceiling chamber growing fainter. I was about to speak up, but before I could, I heard another door slam and the only sounds left were the quiet voices of private conversations and the rustle of paper from the Chief of police who ruffled through some files on his desk.

After a while of un-bearing silence, he placed his files back under his desk, before lifting his head back up to finally speak up. "Your friend robbed a very important bank yesterday, and stabbed three people to get the money. He isn't going anywhere. If he has any parents or relatives you tell them to-

"Bullshit!" I snapped quickly cutting him off his sentence, taking him back a little. My friend and I were walking back to our hotel to meet our friends when the real thief ran towards us and threw the sack of money right at him. I tried to run after him but as soon as I turned around your men arrested my friend for something that he didn't do. He didn't rob any bank or stab three people, he was just minding his own damn business-

"You watch your mouth kid, you ought to know who you're talking to" he snapped, now it was his turn to cut him off. "I did some research on your friend, Austin Moon and found out that he already has a criminal record" he spoke bringing out one of his files from under his desk and reading through it. "At age 15 he was arrested and spent three weeks in jail for theft, and at age 18 he was put in jail for seven months for the possession of illegal drugs and injuring an officer of the law whilst he was being arrested" he read leaving me a little lost for words. "That's all the evidence I need, so please leave my office, I don't wanna ask again" he ordered strictly pointing in the direction of the door.

It was no secret that he spent months in jail last year, but finding out the reason why made me realise that there was really nothing I knew of him at all. Even though millions of thoughts flew through my head at that very moment, I knew I didn't have time to properly think about each one. Moments later, I diverted my eyes back to him before speaking back up. "You know my grandfather was a chief of police in Washington before he died... and he was such a sneaky and slimy bastard" I began as the look on his face started to grow more and more annoyed by the second. "Just because he had a rough past doesn't mean he's guilty, and if you're so sure that he is have you or any of your men even bothered to look at the security camera of the bank he supposedly 'robbed' yesterday before you press any charges on him?" I questioned, now it was my turn to leave him completely speechless and lost for words.

He scanned his eyes around his desk for a brief while almost as if he was in deep thought about something, before lifting his head back to look up at me as I held a serious and stern look in my eye. Moments later, he picked up the telephone beside his desk and dialled a few keys before holding it up to his ears. "Officer Markle, bring me the security tape of the bank that was robbed yesterday immediately" he ordered in a strict tone before slamming the phone back down.

I stared across from him livid and enraged that he had taken him this long to call for the tapes. If I hadn't had said anything, Austin might have still been in jail till this day as I speak. "I'll be waiting for him at the lobby, sir" I muttered sternly before getting up from the seat and slowly walking towards the door. As I placed my hand on the doorknob I felt his eyes piercing through my back instantly. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked out of it, trying not to slam the door behind me. As I walked down the hallway back over to the lobby, my mind instantly diverted back to what he had said about how Austin had spent his time in jail. His past was something that I thought I would never truly find out of, it was so full of secrets, misery and anguish that I was sure it was slowly killing him each and every day. As I thought more about what he had told me of his younger brother's death yesterday in the field, I felt tears beginning to quickly well up in my eyes, but before they could fall down my cheeks, I quickly wiped them away. Although nothing in life was sure to last forever, I was certain that I was going to be there for him as long as I could.

 _~An hour later._

I rested my head on Trish's shoulder as we waited for Austin to be brought out. Although it had only been an hour, I wad beginning to get more impatient by the second.

"I can't believe you stood up to a chief of police like that Ally, you really are the bravest person I know" Trish whispered gazing over at Dez, who stood pacing back and fourth in front of us. I lifted my head up from her shoulder and smiled a small smile at her. "Believe it or not, I lost all my confidence years ago, but ever since you came to our school, I feel like its coming back now, because of you" she exclaimed briefly. I pushed a strand of her long, black curly hair behind her ears and was about to lean back onto her shoulder, but before I could, my eyes narrowed to a police officer strolling in our direction alongside Austin.

A huge smile quickly plastered on my lips as Trish and I quickly stood up, but that all slowly began to disappear as I saw the look on his face. I remember how he looked so tired and exhausted, almost as if nothing was flowing through his mind. The lined in his face showed more hurt on her mind, suffering everyday as though it were happening again. His face looked slim, with an almost ghostly pallor. The life in his eyes had faded every day since, the dark circles beneath them showing his obvious lack of sleep, not just from last night, but from so many nights before. His body as a whole had almost lost itself, hunched over, retracted and almost thinning day by day. His clothes were wrinkles, his eyes lackluster, and the lines around his mouth had vanished from the absence of his smile, which I had the opportunity to see the day before. I noticed how Trish and Dez had stood frozen to the ground, stopping themselves from taking a self closer to him, due to his sudden unapproachable aura.

After the police officer had apologised and left, it was as if the grief and anguish in his eyes had gotten worse. "Austin... a-are you okay?" I stammered looking up at him. I knew he wasn't okay, I knew he was far from that, but somehow I just didn't know what to say at that particular moment to make him feel a little better. Without glancing at any of us, he slipped his hands inside his pocket and turned to walk towards the entrance door, ignoring my question.

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed frustratingly as I watched him walk away. I had felt so much closer to him the day before, more closer than I had ever felt to anybody in my life, but the connection that unexpectedly grew between us the day before seemed to slowly vanish each step he took towards the door.

"God, I know he spent the night in jail for something that he didn't do, but he could've at least said hello" Trish groaned before looking up at Dez who held a morose look on his face glancing over at Austin.

As Austin, exited out the door, I sighed quietly to myself once again before turning around to face them. "I know that we have one more day here, but I think we should just go back home. If we stay here for another day I feel like something worse might happen, plus I think we should get him out of here before he loses it" I said, whilst joining my hands together. "I think you're right, Ally" Dez agreed nodding his head at me. We turned to look at Trish who rolled her eyes before speaking up. "Fine, this place wasn't that great anyway, plus I do kinda miss everybody back home" she added linking her arm with Dez's. I smiled at the both of them before slowly lowering my head to look at the ground. I wasn't sure why, but watching Austin walk away like that, hurt me more than anything, it made me feel like I could never stop him if he ever chose to walk away again, like there was nothing I could simply do about it.

* * *

A couple hours later, it was sometime around 1-2 pm, and the four of us were on the train heading back home.

I looked over at Trish and Dez, as Dez rested his head on her shoulder fast asleep, before turning my head to glance over at Austin, who sat two seats away from me with his head low, in deep thought about something. Ever since we arrived back to the hotel, to pack our things, he hadn't said a single word to me, or refused to even glance in my direction. At first I understood why, but I was then beginning to get a little annoyed by him. I had fought so hard to get him out of there, and it hurt that he wouldn't even look at me. Did everything that happened yesterday really meant nothing to him? I thought to myself as I watched him sit quietly, not moving an inch. Did us holding hands not make him feel the way I felt? was the connection we shared truly gone? millions of questions flew through my head as I slowly turned my head to look directly out the window.

Even though I was bound to get ignored and dismissed, I desperately wanted to say something to him, but I just wasn't sure what. I couldn't ask him if he was okay again, but he clearly wasn't, and I couldn't tell him to forget about what happened, because I knew there was something like that would ever leave his mind, so instead I sat quietly to myself refusing to say anything. As I glanced down at my hand, it was almost as if I could still feel his large ones, interlocked with mine yet again. I remember trying so hard to not forget the feeling of his hand, as I knew I might probably never get to hold it again.

I heard my phone beep in my pocket and I quickly brought it out to see that it was a text from my mom. _'Ally, where are you? I haven't heard from you in two weeks and me and your Father are sorry for everything, please come home'_ it read. I read it over and over before stuffing the phone back inside my pocket almost like nothing had happened. It had taken her two weeks to check if her only Daughter was okay out in the world by herself, and it was then that I truly realised that I didn't need her or my so called Father any longer. That little hope that I had in me that things would be okay between the three of us was now gone. They were supposed to be my parents, the only two people I had in this world, but after that I never wanted to lay my eyes on them ever again. I didn't have a wholesome and loving American family like most people had, but I was lucky to have people around me that cared, I thought glancing over at Trish and Dez.

"Are you okay Ally?" Trish asked, gently stroking Dez's hair. I had thought that I did a better job hiding how I felt right then, but apparently not.

"I'm fine" I nodded flashing her a brave smile. At first she seemed a little unsure, but she ended up shrugging it off, which I greatly appreciated, as I didn't want the situation to drag further on.

She smiled back at me before diving into her purse and bringing out her phone. "My mom texted me that we're having a traditional Mexican dinner tonight, she said she's making it especially because of you" she chuckled, stuffing her phone back into her pocket and I couldn't help but laugh. "I can't wait, I'm starving" I said. I had thought that I had felt Austin's gaze on me for a split second, but as I quickly turned my head to look at him, it might have just been my imagination as he was still frozen in his seat with his head low.

That was how the rest of the train ride was back home. I thought that he would sneak quick glances at me, but when I turned to look at me, I would realise that it was all in my head. I was sure that I was quickly becoming attached to him because of it, even though he was sitting two seats away from me, he was all that I could think about. I didn't remember much about the train ride, but one thing I do remember was praying for a chance to see him smile again. I wasn't a very religious person, I had only been to church once in my life when my christian grandmother had taken me when I was little girl, but there I was; sited by myself on the train praying for the guy who was doing all he could to ignore me and stop himself from looking at me in any way possible. I had prayed to God to give him a chance of happiness in life, and to give him the strength he needed to carry on as I could feel how completely broken and exhausted he was. I knew that what we shared the day before out in that field wasn't a coincidence, but I wasn't sure if he thought the same. Till this day, I still think about that field more than anything.

 _~A while later._

We arrived back home in Miami Florida. The four of us slowly walked out of the train station, with Austin walking in front of us, still not bothering to talk or look at any of us.

I sighed to myself and rubbed my eyes frustratingly, before looking up to see Trent standing besides his car. As he waved in our direction, Austin quickly headed over to his car. I watched as he opened up the passengers seat of the car before taking a step inside and getting out a cigarette from his pocket. Trent glanced back at him from inside with a puzzled expression before looking back at me. He was about to open the door to ask him what his wrong, but quickly stopped himself, almost as if he himself knew that no matter how much he asked he wasn't getting an answer. Sighing to himself, he looked down at him once again before going to walk over to the three of us.

"How you doing big man" said Trent greeting Dez with a fist bump in which he gladly returned. "Thank you for last time again" Dez uttered a little nervously referring back to when Trent had saved him the day he was kidnapped, before glancing down at Trish who gazed up at Trent full-eyed. He returned her gaze with a sly smirk before taking a small step closer to her.

"Hey" he said peering down at her almost as if he was admiring every little detail about her.

"Hey..." she replied back smiling up at him a little nervously.

Trent glanced down at her for several more seconds before turning his attention to me. He looked back at Austin who sat in the passengers seat of his car with his eyes closed blowing a cigarette before sighing to himself. "How did you know that we were coming back today?" I asked looking up at him. "Austin texted me a couple hours ago. He said to pick up immediately at the train station, he seemed as if he was in a hurry to get outta here as soon as he arrived" he stated. "Do you know what's going on with him? he looks more angrier than usual?" he questioned. I turned my head to face Trish and Dez before sighing deeply to myself and speaking up. "Yesterday evening he was arrested for something that he didn't do. Some random guy robbed a bank and whilst he was running from the police, he threw the bag of money at Austin and ran away and the police mistook Austin for the thief... and he ended up spending the night in jail. I'm sorry, I should've done my best to stop it from happening" I muttered quietly, whilst lowering my head.

"Shit" Trent muttered under his breath before taking of his hat from his head and running his fingers through his hair. "You don't have to apologise Ally, it wasn't your fault... its just, this is the third time Austin's gone to jail for something that he didn't do" he explained leaving me a little puzzled.

"What do you mean?" Trish asked bewildered glancing up at him then at me.

"Its a long story... do y'all need a ride home?" he asked politely. "Thanks Trent, but my mom's coming to pick us up soon" Trish replied. Trent nodded his head briefly and turned his head to look back at Austin before looking back down at me with pleading eyes. "Could you come with me Ally? whenever he gets this angry I don't know what to do most of the time, and you're the only one that's gotten him to speak so much in years" he pleaded before clasping his hands together.

I looked back at Austin in the car before slowly nodding my head. "I was going to ask if I could come anyway... to make sure that he's okay" as I finished of my sentence, a smile quickly appeared on my face, it was a type of smile that held so much relief and reassurance, almost as if he couldn't believe that I cared about Austin that much. I smiled back up at him before turning to face Trish and Dez. "Trish, I'll back before dinner and we'll call you tonight Dez" I smiled giving both of them a hug before turning around to walk over to the car alongside Trent. I nodded my head thankfully at him as he opened the backseat for me, and as I stepped inside, he quickly strolled over to the driver's seat. I glanced out the window to see the two of them waving goodbye to me, and without hesitation, I quickly waved back till Trent quickly started up the car and drove off.

The car ride to Austin's place was incredibly awkward and a little uncomfortable. Trent had tried to drown out the awkward silence with some radio music, but that still didn't help as you could almost feel the heated tension in the car. I placed my head on the window before looking up front at Austin who did the same. Within a matter of seconds, I noticed tears began to slowly slid down his cheek, but before Trent could notice he quickly covered his face with his hand. It was then that I knew he could no longer hold in all of the emotions that he had felt since his arrest the day before. I wanted to hold him and tell him that things were going to be okay, but knowing that he would push me away again, I decided to remain to myself till then.

~Half an hour later, we had arrived at a small apartment building.

Before Trent could turn of his engine, Austin quickly grabbed his suitcase and pushed the door open before stepping out the car ignoring Trent calling after him. I watched as he walked past his motorcycle and inside the apartment building, not turning to look back at us.

Trent ran his hands down his face before turning back to face me. "You know when he went to jail last year he was originally sentenced for 2-3 years, but because of good behaviour he got out at seven months. He went through a lot of shit in there. He was beaten almost every day, his mental health and depression got worse and he didn't wanna saw me, not once whenever I came to visit him" he explained whilst lowering his head a little. "What did you mean before when you said he's gone to jail for things he didn't do?" I asked eagerly as my eyes began to water.

"Well when he was about 15 or 16 he went to jail for something that his little brother did. You know they were very poor and had nothing and life was very tough especially for Austin. Austin's birthday was coming up and his brother went inside a supermarket and stole a whole lot of food just for him, of course Austin took the blame and spent three weeks in jail so his brother wouldn't have to be taken away from him. The second time he went to jail was kinda my fault, the both of us were involved with the group of people who kidnapped your friend Dez, and we would make money by selling drugs. One day it was just Austin and I at that warehouse and when the police came I ran and left him to get arrested" he explained leaving me lost for words. "I'm such a a fucking shitty person. I didn't think he would want anything to do with me after I left him high and dry like that, but after he got out he acted like nothing happened, like I hadn't betrayed him somehow... its why I promised myself to always look out for him and make sure he doesn't end up in jail again" he explained, whilst choking up on his words.

There was a brief silence for a brief while, till his phone began to ring. He stared down at the Caller Id for a brief while before declining the call. He pulled out a small key from under his car drawer before turning around to place it in my hand. "What's this?" I asked looking at him a little puzzled".

"That's the spare key to Austin's apartment door, door number seven the top stair" he explained leaving me a little taking back. "I have to go to work, but I want you to please go up and see if he's okay and stop him from doing anything stupid. Also if anything happens, you can give me a call" he said quickly writing his phone number down and handing it over to me. "Trent, I-I can't, I mean I just-

"Please Ally, I know he's hard work but the way he is around you gives me a little bit of hope. I want you to keep the key as well so you can go in whenever you want" he winked. I stared down at the key for several seconds before turning to look up at the small apartment building. I was scared to go in, knowing that he didn't want me there at all, and that he would probably yell, but as I thought about the promise I made to myself the day before to be the person he needed the most in his life, all the negative thoughts seemed to vanish away. I had to be the strong girl that I always was and face him, not only for my sake but for his too.

I said my goodbye to Trent, before stepping out of his car and slowly walking over to the apartment building. I strolled up the stairs until I reached door number seven. As I stared at the black, wooden door, I felt my palms begin to sweat, and the thought I had tried so hard to forget wriggles into my mind. As I heard a loud thud come from inside, anxiety started to crash over me and my ever waking thought is consumed with worry. I clenched onto my fists tightly, before stuffing the key back in my pocket deciding to knock on his door. I waited patiently for him to open for several minutes, but when he didn't, I quickly dived back inside my pocket and brought out the key before slowly inserting it inside the hole and twisting it to the side, causing the door to slowly creak open.

As I stepped inside, I looked around the small living room to see the whole place turned upside down. The sofa was flipped over, the centre table was upside down and there was a hole in the wall, from where I suspected he had punched threw. I looked around the place, before slowly shutting the door behind me. Moments later, my eyes narrowed to Austin who strolled out of the kitchen whilst wrapping a bandage around his hand. He stopped and looked at me with a plain and blank expression, almost as if he wasn't fazed or shocked by the fact that I was now standing in his home. He looked over at me for a couple seconds before going to sit over at his stool near his window, before picking up his cigarette and lighting it. I watched as he blew a whiff of his cigarette into the air, whilst slowly making my way over to him.

"Don't come any closer..." his harsh and sharp voice echoed throughout the room, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. "Please... leave me alone, and throw away the key that he gave you, I don't want you coming here" he muttered quietly, almost as if he was slowly losing the sound in his voice.

I picked up my pace and took a couple steps closer to him before sighing to myself and turning my head to look around the rest of his apartment. It was cosy, very cosy, but it was so dim and quiet, almost felt as if nobody had lived there for years. I looked back down at Austin before placing both hands in my pocket and speaking up. "I know that its my fault, I shouldn't have allowed those police officers to take you away for something you didn't do, I know that going back to jail brought back a lot of memories you try each and everyday to forget about, but I fought to get you out of there and you didn't even speak to me or look at me-

"Not every fucking thing is about you!" he snapped cutting me off. "If you can't understand that I just want to be alone then stop forcing yourself to be my damn friend because I don't need you!" he hissed getting up to walk away, and I wasted no time following after him. "I'm forcing myself to be your friend? are you fucking kidding me?!" I snapped throwing my arms up in the air. "I've been nothing but nice to you ever since I've met you Austin. Its not my fault that you're completely fucked up in ways that you think being alone is good for you. I know that you've had a terrible past, but I wish you would just grow the fuck up and just look at me when I'm talking to you-

"Get out-" he muttered stopping dead in his tracks.

"Yesterday was great before you got arrested. You told me a little bit about your past and I told you about mine. I don't wanna just be your friend just for the sake of being our friend Austin, I wanna be there for you, for god's sake I wanna make you happy because I know I can. I'm not saying that you need me but I can be there for you at all times, because I realised that we both need each other-

"I said get out!" he yelled louder cutting me off my sentence. Silence began to quickly linger around the room and the only thing you could hear was the sound of the clock ticking and the sound of his heavy breathing. I guess I wanted to be done, I wanted to stop trying because no matter how hard I tried, I knew he would still continue to push me away. Maybe I didn't belong in his life like I thought, maybe I wasn't the one he needed to make him happy and turn his life around, maybe I was just wasting my time all along. I felt tears sprinkle onto my eyes, but I desperately held it in as the last thing I wanted was for him to see that he had made me cry. I stared at his back for several seconds before slowly shifting my eyes away and going to walk past him over to the door. "I won't bother you anymore... so be alone if you want" I said refusing to turn around to face him, and with that I quickly exited out the door.

As I closed the door shut from behind me, I placed my back against the door as I felt my heart started to beat rapidly out of my chest. It was hard to walk away from him after trying so much, but the hardest part was truly trying to hold back the hot tears that welled up my eyes. I stood with my back pressed against the door for a while, I wasn't sure how long and why I still decided to hang around near him, but I just couldn't forget the time we shared the day before, I couldn't forget how we held hands and slept beside each other like there was no tomorrow, I just couldn't forget it all.

A couple minutes later, I pushed my back away from the door and turned around to walk down the stairs, but before I could I was instantly met face to face with Piper. She looked at me, almost as if she had seen a ghost. There was no denying that she was completely shocked and gobsmacked at what I was doing standing outside her ex boyfriend's apartment building, and I really didn't have to explain it to her either. We continued to stare at each other not saying a single word, till we heard the door quickly open, and I slowly turned my head to see Austin fully dressed with his motorcycle keys in his hand, almost as if he was in a hurry. Was he going after me? I thought to myself as I saw a look in his eyes that I had never quite seen before. As he turned his head to face Piper, I quickly looked away from him before going to walk past her and down the stairs.

"Ally!" I heard him call my name, but I chose to ignore it as I hurried down the stairs and ran out of the building as fast as I possibly could. I wanted to forget what had happened, but the further I ran, all I could hear was the sound of his voice calling my name over and over.

* * *

 _ **I am so so sorry it took me this long to update, this week was a very hectic week for me as well with stress from family, exams and my favourite movie coming out, Infinity War (Marvel fans can relate).**_

 _ **Anyways this chapter is very important so I hoped y'all paid attention to the little detail in it. If you also enjoyed it don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of it and I'll try my best to update the next chapter sooner than later.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

It was a sunny yet windy Monday morning on the 2nd of February, and Trish, Dez and I were down at a cafe having breakfast before school.

I rested my cheek in my hand on the table as I watched Trish laugh at Dez who stuffed some pancakes into his mouth. It had been a couple days since we returned from the trip at Miami shores and a couple days since I had seen or spoken to Austin. It wasn't as if I had known him long enough to be completely infatuated with him, I had only known him for a month then, but somehow I couldn't seem to ignore the connection that we had. I wasn't sure if it was just friendship or something more, but I still cared for him and still wanted to see him happy even if he truly wanted nothing to do with me and wanted to be alone.

"Trish I know you're making a big deal about my 18th birthday this Sunday, but I honestly just want to spend it with you and Ally... and maybe Austin if he's still talking to us" Dez spoke, placing his knife and fork down on his plate before turning to face me. He reached over to place his hand over mine comfortingly and I couldn't help but smile before pushing myself up and placing a kiss on his cheek. After pulling away, I gazed back at Trish who grinned widely at us from across the table. I was truly lucky to have the both of them in my life through the difficult times I was facing back then. All it took for me was moving to a city that I never imagined to step foot in to find the two people who were more of a family to me and who I cherished more than anything.

"Its your 18th Dez, we have to do something nice, how about we go to a really fancy restaurant? I've saved up some money from work" I chuckled sliding him the rest of my pancakes and leaning back on the seat before watching him devour it all.

"Ally's right" Trish began, whilst slowly lighting a cigarette. "When's the last time you've celebrated your birthday without your mom keeping you locked up inside because she fears something terrible might happen, you have me okay, why can't she understand that I'll make sure nothing happens" she scoffed turning her head to blow her cigarette smoke in the other direction before passing it over to me. Although Trish had been in Dez's life for fourteen years then, she had never been able to get along with his Mother, due to the fact that Dez loved and preferred Trish more than her. It was no surprise to anyone seeing the special relationship they had with each other. It wasn't a romantic bond, but they shared something stronger than anything I had ever seen in life till then.

As the two of them continued to speak about his mother, I pushed my head back and inhaled in the cigarette slowly, before looking ahead to see a woman dressed in all black clothing strolling inside the store. She removed the headscarf from her head and the sunglasses from her eyes before going to take a seat in the middle of the store. My eyes slowly widened, and without hesitation, I threw the cigarette down on the table and picked up my backpack before shooting up from my seat as Trish and Dez gazed up at me with puzzled expressions. "Guys, lets go we don't wanna be late" I said rapidly, looking back over at my mother, who quickly caught my gaze. Not wanting to cause a scene, I swung my backpack over my shoulders and quickly hurried out the door as Trish and Dez followed from behind. It hurt to look into her eyes knowing the pain she had caused me just three weeks ago when she chose my Father over me. I wanted to run as fast as I could away from them and never look back, I wanted to forget ever seeing her there, but as soon as I heard the sound of her voice, I found myself instantly glued to the ground as everything around me started to somehow move in slow motion.

"Ally!" I hadn't heard her voice in so long that I almost forgotten what it sounded like. The tone in her voice seemed more soft and desperate than usual, it was almost as if there was nothing else she could say but call my name, hoping that I would turn around to face her. When I was little I remember the stories my grandmother had told me all about how my mother had ran away and eloped with my father when she was only 17. Just like back then, she was still very naive as she believed in my Father more than anything. He was the only one that she ever saw and had eyes for, and I guess I was just a burden that came along and ruined everything for them. I wished that she would make her own decisions without always relying on him, I wished that she never supported every egotistical and horrible thing that he did and I wished most of all that she could've been her own person, but it was far too late for that. How could I had possibly been raised by such a woman...?

My heart started to beat quickly and my hands began to become clammy as I heard the sound of her footsteps slowly walking up to me. I balled up my fists about to take a step towards Trish's car, but before I could, I felt someone quickly pull me back by the arm and I rapidly spun around to see my mom. She stared down at me unwillingly before sighing to herself and speaking up. "I've been calling you for the past couple days, why didn't you pick up? where have you been staying all this time Ally? please just come home and everything will be okay between the three of us again, I can make our family happy again, I can fix every-

"Fix what exactly mom?" I murmured cutting her off her sentence. "By making our 'family' happy again, what you really mean is making your marriage with that bastard work isn't it?. Its never been about me, its always been about you and him! why did you fucking give birth to me if you weren't ready to have kids! and be there for them when they fucking needed you" I snapped trying to control my anger along the way. "Those two right there... are more of a family to me than you and him" I said pointing back to Trish and Dez who stood a little shocked and speechless at what they were witnessing.

As I shoved my arm away from her, she quickly raised her hand to hit me, but stopped her hand mid air, as she saw the look of hurt and rage evident on my face. "Its been three weeks since you left. Your Father said he's sorry okay, he shouldn't have kicked you out and I'm sorry if I-

"I don't care if he's sorry or not, we both know he doesn't want me back in that house. You chose him over me just like you've always had, I'm never coming back so just stay the hell away from me and go be with your husband" I exclaimed, and without taking one last look at her, I turned around to walk towards Trish's car ignoring the sound of her calling my name over and over. I had thought that I did the right thing by cutting her out from my life, but why was I left feeling so guilty, why was I left feeling like I had completely broken her when all I wanted was her to feel was the amount of pain she had caused me.

* * *

A couple hours later, it was my second period of the day; English.

Dez, and I slowly entered the classroom to see that Mrs Nakamura wasn't already there yet. As we shut the door behind us, we heard snickers coming from mostly the popular people, but I chose to ignore it as I was still hung up about what had went down with me and my mother outside the cafe. I removed my backpack from my shoulder, and turned to glance around the room with my eyes stopping at Austin who sat in his usual seat at the back gazing directly at me. I gazed back at him a little gobsmacked as he was never this early. Normally he would always show up 15-20 minutes late for class, but that was the first time I had ever seen him so early. He held an intense and powerful look in his eye as he continued gazing at me, almost as if he wasn't planning to look away any time soon. I looked back at him, but as I began to remember the fight we had back at his apartment a couple days ago, I slowly shifted my eyes away and took my seat besides Dez.

"You okay, Alls?" Dez asked turning his full attention to me, to make sure that I was indeed alright, but I was simply far from that. I was feeling so many emotions at that very moment, and the only way for me to stop myself from bursting into tears was pretending that I was fine, which I had done so many times in my life.

I forced a smile on my face not wanting to drag this out further before slowly nodding my head at him. At first he looked at me a little unsure, but noticing that I didn't want to talk about it, he sighed deeply to himself. "I'm okay Dez, don't worry about me okay. I'll be fine" I said forcing a brave smile on my face before rubbing his shoulders and going to bring out the books in my back. I didn't have to turn around to know that he was looking at me, because somehow I could almost feel his s eyes burning through my back and I'd be lying if I said that it didn't make me a little nervous.

"Hey, Ally, you having mommy issues?" I hear Brooke say and I quickly snapped my head over to her as her and a couple of her other friends began to burst into heaps of laughter. "We saw the way you spoke to your mom, that wasn't cool at all. I would never speak to my mom like that" she giggled as the entire class began to whisper and murmur to themselves. I slowly diverted my eyes away from her to face the white board as anger started to slowly boil inside me. Each second that she spoke, reminding me of what had recently happened between me and my mother, I felt my fingers began to rapidly tremble as I tried my hardest to ignore everything around me. "You walk around with those two freaks like you're all that but in reality you're a bitch and you know you're a bitch! You know I almost feel sorry for your mommy since she has such a shitty daughter like you, I'm just surprised she hasn't tried to kill herself yet" she said harshly, and it was at that moment that I truly lost it. She didn't know my story, she didn't know anything about me, and as much as I wanted to stop myself from doing anything I would end up regretting, I couldn't hold myself back any longer.

As she continued to laugh along with her friends, I quickly shot up from my chair and stormed over to her, and without hesitation, I threw a punch at her delicate pretty face causing the whole entire class to erupt. Everything around me seemed to go in slow motion as the only emotion I could feel right then was anger. I was about to completely lash out on her till I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up and pull me away and I rapidly spun my head around to see that it was Austin. I kicked and yelled trying to struggle out of his tight grip, but he was just far too strong. He walked over to my desk to pick up my backpack before walking over towards the door still holding onto me as everyone fixated their eyes on us in shock. Seeing as there were no teachers or students in the hallway, he quickly placed his hand over my mouth to stop me from making any more noise as he lead me in the direction of the janitor's closet.

As he closed the door behind us, I quickly found the strength to struggle out of his tight grip and as I did so, I elbowed him in the chest before taking a step back away from him as my breathing increased by the second. He grasped through his chest gently almost as if me hitting him had no effect on him what so ever, before looking up to face me. He held an intense look in his eyes once again before throwing my back pack on the floor and turning around to lock the door so I couldn't escape.

"Open the door" I breathed out before running my fingers through my hair.

"Not until you calm down" he said calmly, whilst slipping his hands into his pockets and staring down at me.

I felt tears sprinkling into my eyes but I desperately held it back to stop him from seeing me cry again. "I-I just don't get you!" I exclaimed crossing my arms above my chest. "Didn't you say that you wanted me to leave you alone and that you didn't need me to be your friend?! what is it that you really want Austin because I don't have time for your bullshit... I'm going threw so much right now okay, I tried to hurt my mom because of how she constantly chooses my Dad over me but I'm the one that ended up being hurt again... I want us to be a happy family just like we used to when I was very young but its too late for that now... I feel like a burden, like I can't look at them without constantly blaming myself for their fucked up marriage. Its all my fault, everything that's happened is all because of me..." as I finished of my sentence, the despair and pain erupts from me like a volcano and soon my cheeks are wet and salty. My eyes searched for comfort in my sparse vacant surroundings, but I found no amenity around me. My face contorted into a portrait of anguish, that I can almost feel the life leaking out of me as I sobbed into my hands, dreading crying in front of him. I guess I just couldn't help myself.

The tears poured down my eyes like waterfalls as I began to feel weak in the knees and everywhere else. Moments later, I heard him take a couple steps towards me and before I knew it, I felt his strong arms slowly wrap around me. He placed one hand on the back of my head and the other on my lower back as I sunk my head into his chest sobbing even more. It was the first time I ever hugged him. I never knew being in somebody's arms could bring me so much warmth and comfort, but the longer he held onto me, the more I started to relax. He didn't have to say anything, all he had to do was hold me and I felt myself hoping that the moment would never end. It was almost as if he had put a spell on me.

After a couple minutes, he slowly pulled away from the hug. As he went to pick up my back pack from the floor, I quickly dried away my tears with my sleeve and pushed my hair back. I thought that it was bound to be nothing but awkward seeing as he had just held me for a couple minutes, but it was the complete opposite. As he handed me back my back pack, I felt more comfortable with him than I had ever been. He opened the door of the janitor's closet and checked if anybody was in the hallway before opening the door wide open and stepping out as I quickly followed from behind him.

He looked back at our classroom door which was down the hallway before turning his attention back to me. We locked eye contact for a brief moment till he decided to speak up. "You wanna go somewhere?" he asked and for the first time that day, I felt a genuine smile start to slowly creep up on my face and almost forgot why I had been crying. I slowly nodded my head, and with that the both of us slowly strolled over to the main entrance door and outside to where his motorcycle was parked. I etched my hand towards his and to my surprise he had did the same. We wasted no time inter-wining out hands together and walking hand in hand, just like we did back in the trip. I didn't care that we were skipping class, because all I wanted to do right then was to be with him.

 _~A while later._

After a thrilling ride on Austin's motorcycle, we arrived at the building of the illegal underground fighting I had accidentally stumbled upon a couple weeks ago.

Austin took of his helmet and looked around to see if anyone was looking in our direction before getting of his motorcycle and going to help me off. "Why are we here?" I asked looking ahead at the two people who guarded the place from the entrance. He peered down at me for a couple seconds before walking ahead, signalling for me to follow him. As we walked further towards the entrance, I noticed how the two men guarding the door had quickly stepped aside allowing Austin to answer, which made me realize just how much respect he had there.

As we stepped inside the building, I felt an almost uncomfortable atmosphere, remembering this was how Austin made his money by fighting random strangers each night or so. Moments later, I turned my head to glance around the place, spotting Trent talking to a couple other people near the stands. Seeing as how I was the only female in the room and clearly underage, everybody had instantly turned their attentions to me; some whispering things that I could clearly hear but chose to ignore. It ultimately felt as if I was an animal at the zoo. I lifted my head to speak to Austin, only to realize that he was already walking over to Trent. I watched with my arms crossed as he whispered something in his ear for several seconds before continuing to look around the room.

A short while later, I heard slow music start to play and I quickly looked over to see Trent strolling over to me as Austin leaned on the railings gazing deeply at me, which had caused me to blush a little. His stare wasn't just any ordinary stare, it was the type of stare to make you feel things inside and to make you nervous at the same time. For a person who had kept his distance from people for years, whenever he looked at me, it was as if he never wanted to look away, it was as if he was trying to tell me something just by his stare alone.

"Austin told me you like to dance, so may I have this dance?" he bowed a little, whilst offering his hand out to me. I chuckled slightly to myself before quickly taking his hand, and before I knew it, we had began to slow dance. I glanced back over at Austin who sat down on the lower staircase as his eyes fixated on Trent and I. It wasn't until I realized that he had brought me here to cheer me up that I started to remember why I was so angry in the first place. Just a couple days before, I had promised to never bother him anymore, but promises never really last, do they?.

"What happened?" he asked placing one hand on my hip and leading me with the other.

"Its a long story..." I sighed chuckling a little afterwards.

"You can tell me all about it later, we're practically like family now, right?" he asked causing me to nod and grin widely. "Damn, Ally, what have you done to him?" he whispered quietly staring down at me as I gazed back up at him a little puzzled. "I've known Austin since he was 16 and even I haven't spent this much time with him like you have. It was always difficult to get a word out of him or get him to do anything, but ever since you came along... just thank you for making him open up even if its only a little, Ally" he smiled before lifting my hand up and kissing it. "He had a girlfriend for two years and he hardly ever spoke to her or spent time with her as he does to you. I think he only lasted in that relationship just to stop that bitch from killing herself" he scoffed irritatingly, and my mind began to think back to how I had came face to face with Piper outside Austin's apartment. You could tell by just the look in her eye when she saw me standing outside his door that she was not only furious, but also hurt and devastated.

I looked back at Austin, who lowered his head in deep thought about something before sighing to myself and turning my attention back to Trent. "Can you tell me more about his ex girlfriend?" I asked quietly. He looked down at me for a brief while before speaking up. "Her and Austin met when he was 17 and she was around 19. Their relationship made no sense at first since he clearly wasn't interested, and when she started to become overly obsessed and infatuated with him, he broke it off. Their toxic relationship was one of the reasons why Austin's mental health is still so terrible and why its hard for him to be social with people, she really fucked with his head. He went through a lot of shit being with her, she abused him and threatened him most of the time. I remember one time he tried to dump her and she lied about being pregnant just to fucking trap him. I told her that if I ever saw her around him again I'll kill her, but she's just so fucking stubborn" he explained sighing to himself afterwards. I couldn't believe all what I had just heard. Austin had already been through hell, losing his mother who was in prison and losing his younger brother to death, and she had came into his life and made everything worse.

After a short while, Trent cleared his throat to clear away the tension and brighten things up. "So your friend Trish, is she dating anybody...?" he began causing a smile to slowly creep up on my face. "She's 18, right?" he asked and I quickly nodded, whilst laughing to myself. "Then would it be okay if I come by to your school sometime and ask for her number and take her on a date?... would Dez be cool with it too?, they seem really close" he muttered as we slowly rocked from side to side to the music.

"I think she would love that... she told me she hasn't been on a date since middle school" I informed leaving him utterly shocked.

"Then the boys that go to your school have to be fucking crazy to not take a chance... she's beautiful" he whispered the last it causing me to grin widely. "She is, isn't she".

After a couple of minutes of us slow dancing and laughing together, he slowly pulled away from me before taking my hand and walking over to Austin, who seemed to be lost somewhere else. "Hey bro, why don't you take over, the music is still playing" Trent uttered holding my hand up. Austin quickly shook his head before looking elsewhere, almost as if he was trying to avoid my gaze. "Fine then, I guess I'll just have Ally to myself from now on" he smirked, whilst wrapping his arms around my waist. As he was about to lead me away, Austin quickly got up from the staircase and grabbed hold of his shoulder, causing him to slowly let go of my waist and raise his hands up in surrender.

I looked up at Austin as he scratched the back of his head a little nervously before walking of over to the middle of the room where Trent and I had danced in, and I smiled a small smile to myself. I looked back at Trent who took a seat on the staircase and sent me a wink, and I took a deep breath before looking back at Austin. Our eyes instantly met as I instinctively and hypnotically walked to him with my heart pounding along the way. As I slowly took a couple steps closer to him, I got on my tip toes to stretch my arms up and place it on his shoulder due to our height difference, and he hesitantly placed his hand on the side of my hips. We didn't say a word and we didn't need to either, because our facial expression and body language said it all. My heart raced and I started to become dizzy from his touch. His scent engulfed me, it was almost as if it was taking control of my senses. He pulled me closer to him, and I loved the way my body fit him perfectly, as we moved to the music as one. Every move he made was attached to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could feel the beating of my heart. The warmth and strength of his hands on me, his beautiful face so close to mine, our bodies radiating together as one; I no longer had control of my body and my mind. It was the first time in my life that I had experienced something like that. As we continued to move slowly with one another, I could feel the magic between us begin to grow with each sway and touch. The passion between us was so explosive that I was sure everybody in the room could feel it too.

After a short while, the music had came to an end, but neither of us seemed to notice as we were so engulfed and focused on each other. I stretched higher on my tip toes and wrapped my arms around his neck whilst gazing up into his deep brown eyes. He had removed his hand from my hips and slowly wrapped it around my waist and I instantly felt a tingly feeling in my stomach. His arms were so strong and so full of warmth and comfort that I hoped he would never eventually let go. As the intensity and passion in our eyes began to grow by the second, he slowly lifted me up the ground whilst holding onto my waist and I quickly cupped his cheeks and brought my forehead down to his. Even though everybody in the room were now watching out every move, I didn't seem to care. Our faces were so close to each other than anything could happen at any moment, but unfortunately our moment was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

He quickly placed me back down on the ground and pulled away from me before pulling his phone out of his pocket. As he glanced down at the Caller Id, his expression had quickly dropped, which left me very worried. "Austin, what's the matter?" I asked staring up at him sincerely. I was about to place my hand back on his shoulders, but before I could, he quickly walked of towards the back, leaving me puzzled and bewildered. I lowered my head and sighed as Trent quickly got up to go after him. All we had to do was look at each other to feel things that we had never felt before, and even though it was the most intense and passionate moment in my life, I guess I shouldn't have expected too much from it.

* * *

Hours later, it was sometime around 8 pm at night and I was getting ready to leave for my shift at my job.

As I packed up some of the cakes at front, I glanced over at Austin who sat at the back waiting for me with his head low. Although he had been a little distance towards me ever since he got that phone call, he hadn't completely ignored me which I appreciated. Even though we weren't sure where our relationship lied, we still wanted to be around each other and spend time together, even if it meant that we had to say nothing throughout.

I picked up the box of British scones beside me before walking out of the counter and over to Austin. "Here are the scones you bought earlier, I'll be done soon" I smiled and he nodded his head before turning his attention to glance out the window. I peered down at him worriedly before sighing to myself and turning around to walk back to the counter only to be met face to face with Dallas, who held a scowl on his face whilst gaping aggravatingly at the both of us.

"What are you fucking him now?" He questioned as I walked over to him. I rolled my eyes away about to head to the back to grab my things, but before I could, he quickly placed his hand over the door stopping me. "Are you gonna answer my question or keep being a little girl Ally?" He snarled, grabbing hold of my chin and forcing me to look up at him. Without hesitation, I quickly pushed his hand away and shoved him away from me, whilst trying to stop myself from getting seriously annoyed.

"Even if I was, its none of your business Dallas, we're not together" I hissed rolling my eyes away.

"You really are pathetic Ally, you could've had all this, but you chose that sadistic loser instead?" He groaned pointing down at his body and over at Austin. I glanced over at Austin who arched his brow listening to our conversation anyway before turning my attention back to Dallas. "You weren't competetion to begin with anyway" I hissed before quickly pushing him away and rushing to the back to grab my back pack before heading back out.

"You won't be saying that when you end up in my bed someday. I know you wanna fuck, Ally, you don't have to play hard to get, it doesn't suit you" he smirked before slapping my butt as I walked passed. I gasped to myself before turning around and rapidly slapping him hard across the face causing a loud connection to echo around the room. "You're a disgusting human being, don't you ever touch me" I spat out before turning around to see Austin standing beside the counter glaring at Dallas.

Before things could escalate, I quickly ran out of the counter and grabbed Austin's hand before pulling him towards the door. "I can't believe I'm losing to a guy like you Austin Moon, have you ever been with a girl in your life? We both know that Ally belongs with me dude-

"Well she's not your fucking girl is she!" Austin snapped quickly cutting him off his sentence and turning around to face him. Dallas held a gobsmacked look on his face, obviously shocked that Austin had said a word to him let alone raised his voice at him. "She's mine... so back off" Austin muttered the last bit before wrapping his arms around me and quickly leading me out the door as I gazed up at him surprisingly.

As we arrived outside to his motorcycle, he quickly let go of me before going to grab his helmet and I sighed to myself before speaking up. "Did you just say that so that he would stop bothering me?... just like when you said we were together to Ana when we went on the trip last week so she wouldn't bother you?" I asked taking a step closer to him. He turned his back to me and rubbed his eyes, refusing to answer my question. We stood in silence for a brief while, with the sunset slowly going down. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion and there was no way to stop it.

I moved closer to him andd placed my hand on his back before speaking up to clear the slight awkwardbess. "Austin-

"God, do you really have to make me say it... you know that I like you... that's why I said it" he muttered quietly placing his helmet down. Without turning back to face me; he grabbed a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and quickly lit it before walking off, leaving me speechless and lost for words. Out of all the things that happened that day, I certainly wasn't expecting that at all.

* * *

 _ **Well that was a surprise... not really lol. I've read a lot of A &A stories and in most of them Ally is usually the one to fall first so I wanted to do a little something different with thid chapter.**_

 _ **I wanna thank y'all for the amazing comments so far on how you love this story cuz it means so much to me. I'm only on chapter 9 and it makes me so happy to see the love I get from my writing. If y'all enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it xox**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

It was a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, and Trish and I were over at Dez's house for his 18th birthday.

I sat closely to myself and smiled as I watched Dez open his presents, before glancing over at his younger sister; Didi who sat whilst texting on her phone in boredom. As she caught my gaze, I quickly turned my attention to his Father; Dennis, who sat in his arm chair gazing directly at Dez with his usual stern and blank expression that I remembered him having. He was fine whenever he looked at his wife or his daughter, but whenever he looked at his son, you could see the disappointment and anger in his eyes. It amazed me how a overly happy and joyous person like Dez could could be related to such a grumpy and unhappy man. Dez turned his head to thank me for one of the presents I had gotten him with a wide grin on his face, oblivious to the look his Father was giving him, and I smiled before shifting closer to him and ruffling his hair.

As I watched him open more presents from Trish and I, my mind began to wander back to the person who had been stuck on my mind that week. I was sure that he was kidding at first, when he revealed to me how he felt about me, but after avoiding me for the whole week and refusing to attend school to avoid seeing me, I started to realise that he was indeed telling the truth, but with so many things going on, I didn't have time to sit down and think if I really felt the same way about him. I mean I truly enjoyed being with him more than anybody, even if we sat in silence, it was still the most peaceful silence I could ever experience in life. He made me feel things inside, especially when he looked at me because no one had ever looked at that before, he made me nervous and anxious at times when I wanted to seem confident, and more importantly, he made me care so much for him at a time when I was losing so much faith in people. Thinking about it now, maybe I did have a slight crush on him too, but I couldn't let my feelings grow because I knew that there was no way he was ready to be in a relationship, especially at such a difficult time. But apart from all that, I knew that I still desperately wanted to be in his life and keep the promise that I made with myself, and the only way I could do that was to continue being his friend.

After a short while, I snapped back into reality, as my eyes quickly narrowed to Trish and Dez's mom; Donna, who strolled out the kitchen whilst singing happy birthday. Trish held in her hands a birthday cake as Donna followed after her from behind. I got up from the sofa and clapped as Trish slowly made her way over to Dez. "Blow out your candles and make a wish" she grinned holding the cake up to her face. Dez looked at the both of us and smiled before taking a step closer to the cake. "I wish that three of us can be friends for ever" he said and with that he quickly blew out the candles. "You're not supposed to say it out loud" I laughed whilst placing my hand on his back, causing Trish to do the same.

Trish placed the birthday cake down on the table and was about to speak up, but before she could, she was quickly cut off by his mother. "Dez, honey, you hardly opened all the presents I got you... don't you like any of them?" she asked whilst placing her hand on his heart. My eyes narrowed over to Dennis, who leaned back on his arm chair and picked up a cigarette and lighter beside him before quickly lighting it as the room went silent for a brief moment.

Trish rolled her eyes over to the back of her head before crossing her arms above her chest and turning around to face his mom. "You bought your now 18 year old son a train set and comic books Donna, he's not a kid anymore, you should know that he outgrew those things in freshman year" she spoke bopping her head to the side and arching a brow up at her. The reason why we refrained from going to Dez's house the majority of the time was because if we did, there was a guarantee that Trish and his mom was bound to break out in an argument. The both of them loved him a whole lot and often saw themselves as competition when it came to his love and affection. I watched as Donna placed her hand on her hips and rubbed her head irritatingly before speaking up. "Trish, I think I know more about my son thank you. I don't need you to tell me what he likes and doesn't, I'm his mother, I know what's best for him" she uttered whilst gritting her teeth tightly as an awkward and uncomfortable silence rapidly lingered around the room.

Dez and I sat back on the sofa, as Trish clenched her hands together whilst gazing out the window. It almost seemed as if she was about to explode at any minute, till Dez's Father cleared his throat, causing the unbearable silence in the room to slowly vanish. "Have you spoken to your chemistry teacher about your references for college, son" he questioned briefly. His deep and raspy voice felt almost like a giant boulder falling and striking the ground beneath it with a shudder. It was so sharp and stern, that it made everybody in the room stop what they were doing to look at him.

Dez looked up at Trish before nervously turning his attention over to his Father. He scratched the back of his head timidly before shifting closer to me for reassurance. "I-I..." he stuttered before sighing to himself, and I slowly rubbed his back signalling for him to go on. "I'm not studying chemistry in college Dad, I know you want me to have a career in science like you, b-but I've decided to study film. I wanna be a film director... Trish and Ally will be with me too, we've all decided to enroll in the same college after graduation" he explained before lowering hanging his head low.

As the words slowly rolled out of Dez's face, I couldn't ignore the annoyed and disgusted look on his Father's face. His face was contorted in fury. He was as furious as a bull. His cheeks flushed and his eyes sparkled with ferocity. He darted his eyes over at Trish and shot her a death stare, before fixating his eyes back at his son as everybody in the room dared not to utter a word. His lips pursed together and his eyes unblinking, at that moment, if his eyes were a weapon, the piercing look in them could have easily caused some serious destruction. "A film director... are you trying to make a mockery out of me?!" he snapped causing a frown to quickly appear on Dez's face. I quickly moved closer to him and placed my hand over his, to stop him from possibly getting angry and harming himself. "I knew that there are a lot of things wrong with you but I didn't think you were that stupid! you've been with Trish all your life and now you want to keep following her around?! when will you grow up and go your own way! when I was 18 I didn't have the luxury of going to college like you, I had to look after my three younger sisters before I went back and got my degree!" he shouted angrily as I felt Dez's hands began to tremble.

"That's enough Dennis! can't you see he doesn't like it when you yell at him, its his birthday for Christ sake! and he can do whatever he wants with his life and go wherever he want. As his Father you should support him not criticism him like you always do-

"You be quiet Trish, this is my god damn house and my god damn family and you don't tell me what to do with my family!" he yelled quickly cutting her off, and within a split second later, the two began to argue.

I grabbed hold of Dez's cheeks and gaped into his eyes to calm him down as his mother and sister watched them argue. After a couple seconds, I noticed the pained and distraught look in his eyes, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to calm him down for much longer. "Guys we're leaving!" Trish hissed grabbing her handbag from the side before swinging it over her shoulder and storming out the front door, making sure to slam the door behind her. I gazed back at his Father who sunk back into his seat angry and frustrated, before glancing over at his mother who covered her face with her hand before turning around to head back inside the kitchen. As the room started to get quieter, I inter-wined my hand with Dez's, before getting up from the sofa and slowly leading him towards the front door.

As we walked outside, we glanced over at Trish's car, to see her sited in the driver's seat whilst quickly lighting a cigarette. I glanced up at Dez who held a distress look on his face as he gazed over at her unwillingly, before strolling over to the car. It was his special day, yet everything seemed to be slowly falling apart. As we arrived at the car, Dez headed over to the backseat and I headed over to the passenger's seat. Trish turned to gaze out the window with the cigarette pressed between her lips avoiding my obvious gaze, almost as if she knew what I was going to say. I sighed to myself before looking back at Dez who stared out the window to his side with a lost and quiet expression. The car ride that occurred afterwards was incredibly silent, so silent that even the road sounds didn't seem to faze us.

 _~An hour later:_ The three of us were sited in a small restaurant downtown.

I stared at the old couple who sat near the back feeding each other, before slowly shifting my eyes away to look across the table at Trish, as she gazed over at Dez who seemed to be ignoring her ever since we arrived. We had been planning that day since the start of the week, it was supposed to be a special day seeing as it was his birthday, but right then it was filled with nothing but silence.

"I'm sorry" Trish sighed, placing her hand on her head and her arms on the table.

"Why can't you just try and get along with my parents" Dez groaned finally fixating his eyes on her. "I know my mom doesn't really know me that well and my dad's a pain in the ass but-

"I've tried to get along with them Dez" she hissed quickly cutting him off his sentence. "Ever since elementary school they didn't like me because they thought I was a bad influence on you and I was holding you back somehow, when all I've done is constantly be there for you always" she exclaimed as tears began to slowly sprinkle onto her eyes. "I know your parents and they're both fucking full of crap. They're gonna do anything to stop you from studying film to get you as far away from me as possible just you wait and see, then what am I gonna do then" she scoffed before frustratingly rubbing her forehead.

"I'm not gonna leave you, Trish I promised a long time ago remember, I just wished for us all to be friends forever, why would I allow them to-

"Open your eyes Dez!" she snapped causing a couple people in the restaurant to turn their attention over to us. "Life isn't all sunshine's and fucking rainbows and just because you wish for something doesn't mean its going to happen, you have to put in the work to make it happen. I want us all to be friends forever too, but can't you see that your parents are gonna take you away from me when you're least expecting it. What are you gonna do without me huh?... what am I gonna do without you?!" she cried, and with that she threw her napkin down on the table before getting up from her seat and going to storm out the front door, whilst drawing more attention to herself. I gaped out the window to see her heading over to her car and I groaned quietly to myself. Like me, Trish was a tough person who had no problem saying whatever was on her mind, but sometimes she let her emotions control her without thinking her words carefully

I turned my head back over to Dez, who sat rubbing his forehead before placing my arm on his shoulders. "Ill be right back Dez, everything's gonna be fine don't worry" I said flashing him a brave smile before getting up from our booth and strolling towards the front door. As I stepped out the restaurant, a gush of wind quickly swept in, blowing my hair to the side. I saw a man with a motorcycle quickly pull up in the parking lot, before going to walk towards the restaurant. He was tall, had shaggy blonde hair, and brown eyes like Austin, but it wasn't him. Was I just imagining things? I thought to myself before rapidly shaking my head and taking a deep breath. I glanced over at the motorcycle once more before sighing to myself and walking over to a distress Trish who leaned vigorously on her car.

I leaned on the car next to her before looking up at the clear blue sky. "We're not doing this today, Trish" I uttered as the sun radiated of my face. "Any day I would've accepted your bullshit but today is Dez's birthday. Can't you pretend to be happy for his sake?" I groaned whilst rubbing my eyes. "I know you love him and don't wanna be separated from him but do you think that he wants to hear all this on this day of all days. I agree that his parents a fucking nightmare, they remind me of my parents, and I don't know how he can stand the both of them, but just try and bear with it for a little while longer because he isn't going anywhere" I muttered the last bit before wrapping my arms around her. "Every day he has an urge to cause more self-harm to himself and its becoming harder for him to control himself but he does it anyway because of us, because he doesn't wanna see us so upset because of him. Since he does everything to make us happy whenever we're feeling down don't you think we should do the same together so that he wouldn't have those urges anymore?" I murmured glancing down at her.

She lifted her head back up to look over at Dez from the restaurant window before letting out a deep sigh. "God, I fucking hate it when you're right, I've been a bitch to him haven't I?" she hissed causing me to chuckle.

"C'mon, lets go back inside, we don't wanna keep him waiting" I said smiling down at her, and with that the two of us walked back over to the restaurant to Dez.

Several hours later, we were sited back at the restaurant whilst eating our food we ordered. I watched as Trish laughed hysterically at a joke told by Dez, before glancing over at the man who parked his motorcycle out hours ago. As he looked over, catching my gaze, I quickly looked away before peering down at my food which I had lost the appetite to eat. It was as if no matter the time of day or where I was, I found myself still thinking about him. Whenever I saw a motorcycle, it reminded me of him, whenever I saw a guy with blonde hair, it reminded me of him. Everything around me easily reminded me of him and I found myself missing him more than I could ever imagine. I guess I would've understood if he didn't want to speak to me again, I wouldn't have wanted to be friends with me either, but its almost as if I had became way too attached to pretend like we weren't meant to be in each other's lives for a reason. I wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse, that was something that I had to think about later on in our journey, but what I was sure of was that I wanted to be in his life no matter how bad things got.

I watched as the man slowly got up from the seat and strolled towards the entrance door. He stopped to flash me a sly smirk and a wink before heading out the door and out to his motorcycle. I watched from the window as he got on and drove off before turning my attention back to the two. I was about to join in on their conversation till I heard my phone ringing from my pocket. Puzzled at who it could be, I dived into my handbag and brought it out to see that it was Trent.

"Hello, Trent?" I answered the phone, pressing it closer to my ear and glancing over at Trish who rapidly turned her attention to me.

"Ally" he breathed out a sigh of relief, almost as if he had been waiting to talk to me ever since. "Do you happen to know where Austin is? I've tried calling him all week but he won't answer and every time I go to his apartment he isn't there. He hasn't been over at the underground club either so I thought you might know where he is. Today is the day his brother killed himself three years ago and I just want to find him quick because he- he almost tried to kill himself last year" he stated, causing me to panic a little. I looked over at Dez who looked back at me and I began to understand why Austin distanced himself especially towards him. It didn't help that they both shared the same disorder, but what was worse was that the day he died also managed to be Dez's birthday. I wonder if Austin often saw his brother through Dez.

After letting Trent's words sink in, I took a deep breath and rubbed my forehead frustratingly before speaking up. "I-I don't know where he is either, he hasn't been in school since Monday, but I can help you look for him" I panicked, looking across the table at Trish and Dez as they gazed at me worriedly.

"Where are you right now?" he asked in a breathless and tired tone.

"Its Dez's birthday, so the three of us are at this restaurant downtown, its called the 'Plaza Italian'" I informed pressing the phone closer to my ears.

"Alright, I'll be there soon" he said, and with that he quickly hung up the phone.

I placed my phone back down on the table as my mind started to fill with negative thoughts on what could possibly happen to Austin. Yet again I was failing on my promise on being the one person he needed in life at times like these. "Is everything okay, Ally?" Trish asked stretching across the table to place her hand over mine. I slowly lifted my head up about to answer her question till I spotted two girls walking through the door. One of them had multi-coloured hair and wore a tight black dress, laughing and pacing around almost as if she were drunk, and the other had long blonde hair and wore a denim skirt and blouse. She was the last person I least expected and wanted to see right then. "Piper, lighten the fuck up, its your 21st birthday, fuck who ever you're thinking about right now and lets just got drunk even more" the girl with the multi-coloured hair slurred and stammered, before pulling her over to a booth near the back. I watched as they took their seats and drew attention to themselves, not caring that there were other people at the restaurant.

"I feel like I've seen that blonde chick before, the other one looks like she just had sex with three guys at a local gas station" Trish spoke up, squinting hard over at them. Dez sent me a look signalling for me not to say anything to Trish, and I could tell that he had remembered her from the group of people who kidnapped him before. "I guess its everybody's birthday today, huh?" she chuckled before looking up at Dez, who quickly flashed her a smile before taking some of her food from her plate.

I glanced down at the table trying to avoid her from noticing me, as I thought back to the day where we had came face to face in Austin's apartment. I sighed a small sigh to myself and turned my head to look at her once again, only to find her gazing directly at me. She locked eye contact with me, and shot me a look that made me feel a little uneasy and uncomfortable at the same time. "Uhm guys, I'm gonna go use the bathroom I'll be right back" I stammered before rapidly getting up from my seat. Without looking back at Piper, I quickly hurried over to the bathroom before quickly closing the door behind me.

Luckily there was nobody there. I ran my fingers through my hair and went to stand in front of the mirror. As I stared at my reflection, I began to feel so weak and defeated, like there was nothing I could do in that very moment. It was as if whenever I saw Piper I was reminded of the girl in me that I tried so desperately to hide away from. Each and every day, I put up an image, forgetting that deep inside me, I was a nervous and unstable wreck who couldn't do anything right. I pretend to be confident and not show any signs of weakness, but I was the complete opposite which nobody could know about. The one thing I wanted was to be there for Austin, but how could I do that, when I found it difficult to even be there for myself?. I loosened the ponytail from my her and placed both my hands near the sink as I started to frown at my reflection. After a short while, I gathered myself up to head back to Trish and Dez, till I heard the door slowly creak open, and I quickly spun my head around to see Piper leaning on the door with her arms crossed above her chest. Without realising it, I found myself taking a couple steps back, without letting it show how much she troubled me, and how much I saw a lot of my insecurities in her. I was trapped.

As she pushed her back of the door and took a step closer towards me, I could almost sense the distressing aura, radiating from her. Her eyes were so vacant and held no life. With her gaping, empty eye-holes, you could almost spot a seemingly endless tunnel, reflecting neither light nor emotion. "Why is it that wherever I am, you're there too?" she scoffed, stopping to let her arms drop to the side. She was completely emotionless. The chasm of life had drained out o her iris's. It was like staring at the dead eyes of a corpse, lifeless. She slowly tilted her head to the side before chuckling a little afterwards and it was then that I knew that she was truly insane. I didn't quite know the full story behind her and Austin's toxic relationship, but thinking back to what had Trent had told me about her earlier on that week, I knew that she was trouble.

Being in the same room as her made me almost want to lose my mind, and I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there. Before I could take a step, she quickly shot me a devious look, causing me to take another step back. "The type of person that Austin is... he's complicated" she spoke calmly, but her eyes told a different story. "When we were together, I gave him everything, I loved him and not once did he ever tell me he loved me back... not once" she whispered the last bit whilst slowly lowering her head. "After a while, I realised that someone like him can never be happy in life no matter how much anyone tries. You have a little crush on him right? why?... is it because he's gorgeous?... you can't possibly like him because of his personality, because he never fucking says anything, right?" she questioned in a silent and dark tone as I kept quiet refraining from saying anything.

"This is the last time that I tell you, Ally is it?... stay away from him, just because we broke up doesn't mean you can show up to his apartment whenever you want. He might have done a lot of things to make me hate him, but I'm not the type to give up easily. I'm the person he needs and I'm the person he's only ever going to need. I'm begging you... I can't lose him for good" she muttered as tears began to appear in her eyes, but I wasn't buying it one little bit. As a single tear rolled down her cheek, I gazed up at her with a blank and emotionless expression, not believing how a person who tortured and ruined a person's life could be saying all this. I rolled my eyes about to walk past her once again, but before I could, she quickly dragged me back by my arm, stopping me.

"I wasn't done talking you skank!" she hissed, showing me a new change of attitude, that I knew was hiding under all her crying.

"You fucking psycho! get off me!" I snapped, whilst rapidly shoving her hand away from me. "Do you really expect me to believe all what you just said?! I know that you fucked up his life selfishly for two fucking years so don't me to stay away, this isn't a love triangle because he doesn't love you!" As I yelled the last sentence in her face, she lifted up her hand about to slap me, but before she could, I quickly blocked her hand, causing the rage in her eyes to grow even more. "He doesn't love you... he can't love anybody right now because of everything that he's been threw. I thought you knew him well to understand that, or maybe you do but you don't wanna believe it because you're selfish and you know you're selfish" I spat out gazing up at her furiously.

As I breathed in and out trying to catch my breath, she slowly took a step back from me whilst lowering her head. It felt like all the life had just been sucked out of her right then and there was nothing she could do about it. "You're wrong..." she muttered quietly, slowly lifting her head back up to look at me. Before I knew it, she had fell to the floor screaming loudly at the top of her lungs as I watched on in despair not knowing what to do.

After a couple seconds, I heard someone barge through the door, and I quickly looked up to see Trent, causing a sea of relief to flow through me. He peered down at Piper who had stopped screaming to turn her attention to him. "This is all your fault" she murmured before slowly quickly getting up from the floor and going to throw punches at him. "You told Austin to leave me, its all your fault, and now I'm going to lose him to this bitch!" she shrieked slapping his face continuously. Before she could throw another slap at his face, he quickly caught her hand in mid air whilst trying his best to block himself from her. "You terrorised Austin for two fucking years with your constant bullshit, you're not gonna terrorise Ally too, you hear me?! she has nothing to do with how you fucked up so leave the girl alone or you're not gonna like what I'm gonna do to you this time, Piper" he threatened, holding onto her wrist tightly to stop her from lashing out on him as I watched on in disbelief.

She was about to speak up, but was quickly stopped by someone running inside the bathroom and I quickly realised that it was her friend she had came in with. "Trent" she breathed out gazing up at him. "Just let her go, its her birthday you fucking idiot, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" she snapped throwing her hands up in the air. As Trent quickly released his hands away from Piper's wrist, she quickly threw another slap at him, causing him to clench his jaw tightly.

"I don't fucking care if its her birthday Alex, tell your sister to stay away from Austin or else things are gonna get ugly" he spoke gaping down at Piper who held a scowl on her face gazing back up at me.

Alex wrapped her arms around Piper's waist and scoffed to herself before turning to look back at me. "Why is everything you do always for that pathetic mute? would you die and go to hell with him too if you could?" she scoffed rolling her eyes away, before leading Piper out of the bathroom.

As they closed the door shut, Trent rubbed his eyes frustratingly and let out a deep sigh before turning to face me. "Are you okay? I'm sorry you had to see that" he breathed out, walking closer towards me. As he took a step in front of me, he quickly pulled me into a hug and I closed my eyes, whilst resting my head on his chest. I was a person that could normally handle lots of drama, seeing as how I had grew up in a family where drama occurred almost everyday, but I couldn't handle Piper's obsession with Austin and the psychopathic 'love' that came with it. It made me almost want to stay away from him because of it, but I knew that if I listened to her, I would somehow disappoint him in the process. Even though I knew what I was getting myself into by still wanting to be in his life, I was prepared to put up a fight and put on the tough image I had plastered on my face ever since I was young.

"I think I know where he is" I muttered, slowly pulling away from the hug. "C'mon, we have to hurry".

* * *

 _~Half an hour later._

Trent pulled up down the dark and empty street and I quickly looked out his window to see Austin sitting quietly on the bench to himself as he watched the homeless man play the ukulele, and I quickly breathed out a sigh of relief. I knew that he had to be here. It was where he came everyday, more importantly, it was where he watched me dance, and where we first sat together in peaceful silence for hours. Even though it was hard to tell the look on his face from far away, I knew that he was feeling a lot of emotions inside.

I turned my head to look at Trent who sighed and placed his hand on his head as he watched him. "You should go and talk to him... he probably doesn't wanna see me right now. I'll wait here" he said flashing a warm smile, before leaning over to open the passenger's door for me. I smiled back up at him and nodded my head before taking a deep breath and stepping out the car. Remembering how awkward it was between the two of us last time we were together, I felt myself starting to become nervous as I walked further and further towards me. My heart started to beat quickly as I sucked in a shaky breath, feeling my throat constrict. Anxiousness instantly rose like bile in my body as I thought of what to say to him. What if he ignored me or pretended that I wasn't there? what if he just got up and walked away to carry on avoiding me?. My palms become clammy as I tried not to knot my fingers together. He was the only person that ever made me so nervous.

Taking one last deep breath, I slowly took a seat beside him before looking over across the street at the homeless man, who closed his eyes whilst slowly strumming along the strings of his ukulele that Austin had given him. I looked back at Austin as he held an empty and lifeless look in his eyes whilst his eyes fixated on the man. He didn't say anything to me or acknowledge my presence, but he didn't get up to leave either, so I took it as an opportunity to stay.

As silence grew more and more between us, I sat back on the bench before pushing my head up to look at the night's sky. The stars in the sky were nonexistent, as between us arose puffs of grey. Those balls of cotton seen during the day shifted into streams of grey, the colour of ash and soot. They blanketed the sky, hiding the full moon in its full glory behind them. The sky was exactly the night we first sat together at that very bench. The atmosphere and the slight gush of wind, coming from the bush beside us all felt the same. Was that fate or was I just imagining things all in my head?. I almost forgot how much at peace I felt just sitting with him, but it somehow felt a little different that time knowing that he then had feelings for me.

"He's playing beautifully today" I said deciding to finally speak up. "Careless whisper by George Michael... my grandma used to play that on her piano to me all the time when I was little" I smiled referring to the tune that he played. It amazed me how Austin had came by there every night just to watch him play or give him food or money, but not saying a single word to him. It made think if there was a special relationship he had with him as he did it for years. I looked back up at him to see the wind blowing his blonde locks to the side, revealing his weary and tired eyed. Even if he lacked sleep, he still managed to take my breath away just by looking at him. We sat in silence for another several minutes, and this time it was his turn to speak up. "He used to play the song every night for my mom" he muttered quietly, his gaze not leaving his.

I stared up at him a little puzzled and bewildered trying to understand what he meant by that. "Wait, what? if he played that for your mom every night could that mean-" I stammered looking back at the man.

"He's my Dad..." he spoke finishing of my sentence. My jaw immediately dropped to the floor and millions of questions flew through my mind as everything seemed to be still in that particular moment. "When my mom got sentenced to jail nine years ago he lost his mind. He started drinking a lot and that caused him to lose custody of me and my brother. Once I ran away with my brother so that we wouldn't be put in foster homes, I thought that I would never see him again, until I found him on this street five years ago. I told him my name but he didn't remember me, I then found out that he was involved in a car accident where he lost all his memory and became homeless afterwards. Every night I come here to make sure he's okay. I don't expect him to remember me, he's just the only family I have left that isn't dead or locked away" he explained emotionless whilst slowly diverting his gaze away from his father.

What an unfortunate life he had lived at just 19 years old. His mother was locked away in prison leaving him to grow up without her, his younger brother had committed suicide because of him, and his father had lost all his memory he ever had with his family and only saw him as nothing but a stranger. He didn't deserve to constantly go through life living in pain, he didn't deserved to be looked down upon because he showed no emotion due to his past, he didn't deserve all the misery and constant disappointments that life had to offer. He deserved to be happy, he deserved to know that he was loved even though he couldn't love back. After a short while, I found tears starting to sprinkle onto my eyes as I sat imagining all the struggle one person can endure in life before he finally had enough.

"Have you ever told him that you're his son?, that he's your Father?" I asked gazing back up at him teary-eyed.

He paused and lowered his head briefly for a little while before sighing a small sigh. "If I tell him then what? we go back to being a happy family with just the two of us?. Its too late for that, its better if he doesn't find out! he murmured slowly sitting up on the bench. "I know that I haven't bothered to call you or do anything to see you this past week, but I just want you to know that I'm always here for you" I sniffed, quickly wiping away the tear that flew down my cheek.

Austin turned his head to glance down at me. We held a strong eye contact for what seemed like forever, till he slowly removed his eyes away to look back at his Father. "If you mean all what you say about wanting to be there for me, then I want you to promise me something..." he began whilst looking ahead.

"What is it?" I asked shifting closer to him.

"If you mean what you say... I want you to promise... I want you to promise me to never let me go, if you promise me that, then I'll promise the same" he said gazing deeply into my eyes. Those words were like heaven when I first heard them. Even till this day, I still remembered the tone in his voice and the expression on his face as he said it. I could tell that he was a little unsure himself, but he was so serious, that he didn't have any doubt about it in his mind. That promise was the beginning of our true story, the beginning of our journey into something that I thought would last forever.

"I promise... I'll never let you go".

* * *

 _ **Sorry it took me a little while to upload this, but I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and the little cute Aussly moment at the end. Also, don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

Two weeks had quickly passed by, and it was safe to say that it was one of the most peaceful and happiest times of my life. Being a self-pride and impatient person, I never thought that I could deeply hold on to words said by somebody that I hadn't known for that long. But it wasn't just words, it was a promise, a promise that I least expected to cherish, a promise that I wish I could've tried harder to hold onto.

It was a calm and quiet Wednesday morning near the end of February, and Trish, Dez and I were driving over to Austin's apartment in her car before school.

"So are you two like dating now?" Trish asked releasing one hand of the steering wheel and turning her head to take a glance over at me. I chuckled lightly to myself as I removed the cigarette from my lips before handing it over to her. "What's so funny? you guys have been spending a lot of time together. You go to his apartment a lot, are you sure you haven't done anything with him?" she asked again arching a brow at me. I playfully rolled my eyes at her, before turning back to look at Dez, who held a sly smirk on my face signalling for me to go on. It was no secret that Austin and I had became fairly close and with each other ever since we made that promise. All his life, Austin had kept away from people and pushed them away, and it surprised everybody to see how comfortable he was with me. But the truth was that we didn't need to date to complete the excitement and fascination that was our our relationship, we just had to be with each other to feel what we'd been missing almost all our lives.

I turned to glance out the window at the pavement before smiling to myself. "Trish, for the last time we're not dating, we're just you know... friends" I stated briefly.

"Friends with benefits?" Dez spoke up, causing him and Trish to instantly burst into laughter as I sat rolling my eyes before turning my head back to look out the window. If only they knew the reason why we had became so close was because of that promise.

"What about you and Trent, don't you have a date with him again tonight?" I asked reaching over to change the radio station. A smile began to slowly tug at the corner of her lips. She held that smile for a couple more seconds till it immediately turned into a frown, leaving me with a bewildered feeling. "Trent and I have been on three dates already and he's a nice guy, he's older, and hot, but... I thought that he seemed a little bored of me on our last date, I don't know it all seems to good to be true so I might just cancel before I end up getting dumped again" she sighed whilst placing one arm around the window. I gazed over at her with a little pity and was about to speak up till I got quickly cut off by Dez.

"Trish stop it, every guy that pays a little attention to you, you fucking do this" he hissed sitting up on the seat. "We're not in middle school anymore and Trent isn't Dallas. He isn't going t dump you out of the blue. He spoke to me first and tried to get my approval before asking you out, that's why I trust him" Dez uttered in a frustrated tone before leaning back on the seat as Trish clutched tightly onto the steering wheel. I turned my head to smile back at him before placing my hand on her shoulder and speaking up. "Dez is right, Trish. You're just overthinking. On your last date Trent called me and told me that he really liked you, and he said he's got something really nice planned out for you tonight so you can't cancel" I spoke reassuringly.

Trish tossed the cigarette out the window before removing her eyes from the road to face Dez and I. "Fine, I'll give him another chance but if he breaks my heart then I'm fucking blaming you both" she scoffed, whilst making a 'U' turn. She was a lot like me, but instead of hiding all her doubts and insecurities like I did, she had no problem with releasing them to the both of us. Looking back at it now, I wish that I had the strength and courage that she had.

 _~A short while later._

After saying goodbye to Trish and Dez, I slowly stepped out of the car before walking in the direction of Austin's apartment building. I glanced over at his motorcycle which was parked in his motorcycle place before strolling inside the building. Nodding my head at a couple people walking down the stairs, I tugged onto the hem of my backpack as I headed up the top stair over to his apartment door. I knocked twice on his door before taking a step back, and after a minute or two, the door slowly opened, revealing an exhausted and grumpy looking Austin. Somehow that agitated and annoyed look in his eyes has began to slowly soften as he saw me. He was dressed in grey sweatpants, a black vest that exposed all of his tattoos and muscles, and his blonde hair was slightly wet, covering the side of his left eye. We stared at each other for a brief while, till he stepped back and opened the door wider to let me in.

Flashing him a warm smile, I slowly stepped inside his apartment, before turning back around to look up at him. I loved being there, it was one of the only places that I felt so comfortable in. It was small and barely had any furniture, but it was still something memorable. I still remember the pictures of his brother, mother and father that were hung around the wall, but there weren't any of him. Even if there were family photos, he wasn't in any of them with the three. I first I thought that it was a little strange, but I guess, it hurt to see himself with the people he'd lost the most in life. On his living room wall hung a still painting of a silhouette that I could never quite figure out what it was. Austin was a great artists, it amazed me that he could draw so well with such little effort. I had suggested that he sell some of his paintings, but he never saw the point in it. He didn't think they were good enough, he didn't think he was good enough.

"Why don't you just use the key that Trent gave you?" he asked in a groggy and raspy voice, whilst walking past me.

"I'll start using it when you get accustomed to me coming here, I don't want you to think someone's breaking into your apartment or something" I smirked placing my backpack to the side before going to walk after him. He sat down on his sofa near the window before picking up the cigarette and lighter from the table, and I sat closely next to him. Leaning the side of my head on the sofa, I quickly took my shoes off and put my feet up as I watched him smoke with his eyes closed. "Didn't you sleep again last night? you look tired..." I asked lifting my hand up to run my fingers through his wet hair. I started to think back to how he had unexpectedly revealed his feelings for me two weeks before just like I did whenever I saw him. Ever since that moment, he never brought it up again or acknowledged the fact that he felt something for me, which lead me to believe that he had gotten over it. I mean it wasn't like I was expecting us to talk about it, that would've made things more awkward between us and possibly driven us apart when we were much closer than ever, and I certainly didn't want anything to ruin what we had right then.

"I'm fine" he muttered briefly, but I wasn't buying it one little bit. I sometimes hated how he refrained himself from telling me things seeing the huge promise we had promised each other. My hands slowly traced down to his face and to his collar bone. As I stopped at the hem of his shirt, he slowly shifted closer to me and I smiled sincerely up at him, before pulling his head down onto my shoulder. I heard him let out a slight and silent groaned as he relaxed on my shoulders, whilst his arms slowly made his way around my back. The warmth of our bodies caressing each other was enough to make us sit there for hours in each other's arms. This was one of the reasons why I loved spending so much time with him, just to be in his arms was a feeling so un-explainable it made my head blank just thinking about it. As I felt him tighten his grip around my waist, I turned my head slightly and glanced out the window, to find the sun's welcoming rays beginning to peek up on the street. It was dawn, and the colours in the sky were the perfect opening to a perfect morning.

He was much more bigger than I was, but as he sunk his head down to my chest he seemed to fit perfectly. I gently ran my fingers through his hair before looking over at his brother Aaron's bedroom across the living room. It was a sacred place which Austin had refused to step into after his brother had killed himself inside. Sometimes even a glance at it would make him very emotional and bring back a lot of memories, which was why I tried my hardest to take his mind of it a lot of the time.

I turned my head to glance over at the clock before speaking up. "We have to get to school soon" I whispered, causing him to slowly pull away from me. I watched as he got up from the sofa beside me, before getting up to walk over to his bedroom, and I stood up quickly following from behind. "I'm not going today" he said bluntly, before stepping inside the room.

"Why? is something wrong?" I asked slightly closing his bedroom door after me before turning to look back at me. I watched as he quickly took of his vest shirt and threw it down on his bed and I couldn't help but stare at the bruises that were evident on his chiselled body. The bruises were a multitude of hues, colours that normally shouldn't be on someone's skin. There were garish purple splotches, roughly the size of a fist, while others were more greyish, but still looked just as bad. And it wasn't just the bruises, there were scars, too. Lines across his body, like someone or something had dug its nails into him, tearing his flesh. It was truly hard to look at, but at the same time, I just couldn't look away As I stared at each and every one of them, I wanted nothing more than to make every single one of them disappear, to take away his pain, to remove all of the scars, downfall and disappointments in his life.

"I have a fight in a couple of hours" he stated before taking a seat at the edge of his bed. "A friend of Trent's got me this fight with this guy that's apparently never been beaten. If I beat him today, I get a shit ton of money... and I'll finally have enough to buy my Dad a house of his own, so that he doesn't have to live out in the streets anymore" he explained, before taking in a whiff of his cigarette and blowing the cloud of smoke into the air. Even after everything that life had did to him, he would still allow himself to take a beating in order to still have the opportunity to care for his loved ones. I admired that the most about him. His gentle and caring attitude, the way he fought so hard for everything, he truly deserved the most in the world, and sometimes I felt that I wasn't capable enough of giving it to him.

I pressed my back against the door and gaped at him for several more seconds, before slowly walking over to take a seat beside him. "I know you're gonna tell me to go to school, that you don't want me to see you fight, but you need somebody to cheer you on." I said, slowly taking his hand and interlocking it with mine, causing his body to tense up a little. I gaped up into his eyes, almost hypnotised, before slowly looking back down at his scars. I knew that he had got them all through his fighting. I lifted my head back up to look into his eyes, to see his eyes already boring into mine. I gazed back deeply into his eyes. It frustrated me having moments like this when we said nothing but gazed into eachother's eyes, because I knew it was always difficult to look away. We were so enthralled and fascinated by each other that something simple as eye contact felt quite intense and spirited. We weren't meant to gauge into each other's eyes for so long, we were supposed to remain friends to keep everything from falling apart, but I couldn't ignore the connection and attraction whenever his eyes met mine, and I knew that he couldn't too. It was almost a crime to think that way, considering the high stakes of our relationship. We knew that if we pushed further, it could possibly change things between us, and that wasn't a risk neither of us was willing to take. We were far too attached and deep in to mess up anything with each other.

After a couple seconds or so, he quickly broke the heated eye contact by hanging his head low and leaning down on his bed. I placed my hand on my chest as I felt my heart quicken by the second. Taking a deep breath, I looked back at Austin who laid on his bed gazing up at the ceiling, before turning back around to sit closely to myself. Whenever something like this happened, we often made sure not to say anything to each other in order to stop anything from accidentally speaking out.

I was about to get up from his bed to head to the bathroom, till I heard the sound of my phone ringing from my pocket. I quickly brought it out and glanced down at the Caller Id to see that it was my mom, and without hesitation I quickly declined the call before stuffing the phone back inside my pocket.

"You should've answered, its your mom isn't it... I know she's fucked up but you can't shut her out forever" I heard him say, causing me to sigh under my breath. I forgot how quickly he was beginning to know me. Just by my body language, he could tell who was calling me.

"I just don't have the strength to talk to her right now, I wouldn't even know what to say to her" I mumbled before turning my head to look back at him. "I guess I am a pretty fucking terrible person, huh?" I sighed lowering my head a little. "If you were a fucking terrible person, I wouldn't have asked you to promise me that" he muttered briefly. A small smile slowly tugged at the corner of my lips as I laid beside him facing the ceiling. I had thought that it was my job to be always there for him in our relationship, without realising that he was the one truly looking after and taking care of me the whole time, even in the smallest and biggest times.

* * *

 _~A couple hours later._

It was almost time for Austin's fight at the underground fight club, and I was at back helping him get ready.

As he sat down on a table, I stood beside him and helped to massage his shoulders as he threw his head back at my touch, which had caused me to blush a little. I knew that he was somewhat of a professional at this seeing as he had been doing it for three years and had fought a lot of people throughout, but after seeing his scars today, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel extremely worried. He was such a strong person physically, but mentally, he wasn't as strong as it seemed. He would tried to fake his strength a lot of the time by pretending that everything was okay, but I could always see through it, I could always tell that it wasn't. I sighed to myself and pressed my forehead down on his bare shoulders before wrapping my arms around his neck from behind. He was a little hesitant at first, but after a short he held onto my hand before burying his face in it.

After a while, we turned our heads to glance over at Trent, who stepped in through the door before shutting it behind him. He smiled at the position we were in, which caused us to quickly pull away from each other.

"Austin, the crowd is starting to fill up with people and Dave just arrived" Trent informed, referring to his opponent. "A lot of people are betting money on this fight man, Dave isn't just an ordinary motherfucker, you know that, that dude has killed people before just by fighting with them. I wouldn't wanna go anywhere near him so you sure you wanna do this bro?" Trent questioned, causing me to panic a little.

Austin remained silent with his head low, not saying anything as Trent waited for his answer. I crossed my arms above my chest anxiously before speaking up. "If he's killed people before then don't you think its a little dangerous, Trent I think you should cancel the-

"That's not your decision to make" Austin hissed quickly cutting me off my sentence, causing a heavy and thick silence to rapidly brew in between us. Trent glanced over at me and sighed to himself, before turning his attention over to an annoyed Austin, who removed the wet towel from his face, before getting up from the table. Without turning back to face me, he quickly stormed out the room as Trent apologised briefly before following after him from behind.

Not long after, I heard the howls and cheers from the crowd and I knew the fight was about to start or it had already begun. I sat back on the table and rubbed my head frustratingly, as my heart rapidly pumped faster and faster. I hated whenever he would disagree with me, especially when at times when I tried to protect him. But I guess he didn't need protecting from stuff like that as he was so sure he had it all under control. The roars from the crowd began to get louder and louder as each second passed as droplets of sweat began to form on my forehead. Maybe I was just overthinking a lot, I mean like I said before Austin was a strong person and had been fighting for three whole years, despite the scars on his body so he had no trouble in defending himself, right?. My mind began to fill up with many different thoughts and many different scenarios as I sat closely listening to the screams from outside. I had come to care about him a whole lot, and the thought of anything happening to him terrified me like no other.

After what felt like forever of sitting alone, I gathered myself together, before quickly getting up and rushing out the door. There were a lot of people, men especially who surrounded the place, my height didn't help at all seeing as it made it difficult to see what was happening at front. Groaning to myself, I pushed past several people until I reached a spot where I could partly see what was going on, and it truly was what I dreaded to see. Austin sat in the corner rapidly breathing in and out as blood sprinkled down his head, and I couldn't help but gasp loudly. His opponent; Dave, was unlike anyone I had ever seen before. He was massive, at least seven foot tall, twice his size and most of all brutal.

Even though there were many people in that room who were screaming and roaring on top of their lungs at Austin being decimated, it felt as if I could only hear the sound of his heavy breathing and see the blood that rapidly spiralled down from his head, running into his open mouth. He grunted softly as he tried to lift himself back off the floor, only to fall back down instead. He was exhausted. Three years of putting his body on the line just to survive finally caught up to him, and I was the only one that could see it all. His left eye was black and blue and he had bruises all over his arms and sides. At every heated and worn out breath he took, he looked almost as if he would rather be dead than carry on.

As he finally found the strength to get back on his feet seconds later, I watched in horror as Dave quickly quickly threw a punch at his jaw with such force that blood pooled into his mouth. Pain erupted from the point of impact. With his two hands he grasped Austin's head in his hands and brought his knee cad up to his nose, there was a blunt crack as crimson started to leak from his nostrils, causing his nose to twist a little to the right. As I watched on in horror and despair, my breathing began to spiral out of control. I had found a little hope when Austin had quickly gotten back on his feet to wrestle him to the ground, but that all vanished as Dave quickly threw him of him, almost mocking the size difference between them. As he drew his fists back again and ploughed into Austin's stomach, it was like almost like hitting a train head on. I covered my mouth as his guts smashed together, blood vessels bursting. It was then that I knew I had to stop this.

I turned my head to roam around the crowd of people who screamed for the fighting to continue, before looking back at Austin who sat on the floor near the corner almost out of breath. He was beaten badly and I could no longer watch on and allow it to continue despite the people screaming for it. I made my way through the crowd of people, pushing some away as best as I possibly could, until I reached Trent, who stood near the front watching the fight go on. I took a deep breath and tugged on his arm, and he quickly turned to look down at me. "Trent, please stop this, you organised this, please just stop, he's gonna die if this continues" I pleaded almost choking up on my words.

Trent looked back at Austin, and turned his head to look at the crowd of people before focusing his attention back on me. "Ally, Austin's been in this kind of fight before, he knows how to pull through alright. I can't stop it, the crowd-

"Who gives a shit about the crowd?!" I snapped cutting him off his sentence a little too loudly as I avoided looking back at Austin who seemed to be getting more of a beating from Dave. "Look at him Trent, I know he needs the money but you can't allow this to go on. Just stop it please, I can't see him like this and you can't too. I beg you" I pleaded once more, clasping my hands together as tears began to slowly sprinkle into my eyes. He looked back down at me for a couple seconds and sighed before ringing the bell to signal that the fight was over. Even though a crowd of boos came after that, I couldn't care less. I didn't care about anything else right then, the only thing I care about was making sure that Austin was okay, even though he was badly and brutally hurt.

 _~A while later._

After the crowd of people had cleared out, I walked back into the club holding an ice pack and a first aid kit that I had bought down the street as I made my way over to the back, avoiding a couple of the men who stared at me whenever I came by. It was nothing new.

As I got closer to the back, I heard shouting coming from inside, and I slowly pushed the door open and peered inside to see Austin and Trent arguing.

"Look I didn't wanna stop the fucking fight alright, Ally asked me too-

"And you fucking listened to her?" Austin snapped quickly cutting him off his sentence. I watched as he limped over to him still badly injured and bruised. "Of course I fucking listened to her man, that's your fucking girl even if you say she's not. She was about to cry seeing you like that, and I knew I had to do what she wanted. I know you needed the money but I tried to tell you that you had no chance with Dave. The dude's a fucking giant, now look at you, you should've thought about Ally first instead of doing this man, you think she's gonna like seeing you with more bruises and a broken nose and a fucking black eye until it heals. You should listen to her more because that girl cares about you a whole lot man, when have you ever spoken this much to me, huh? its because of her. Do I need to remind you that-

"Not every fucking thing I do is about her!" Austin yelled loudly, before flipping over a couple things in the room. "I didn't even want her to come today because I knew it was gonna be like this. I knew that I had no chance against Dave but I still wanted to fucking try. My Dad who doesn't even remember who I am has been homeless for seven years, seven fucking years. Do you understand what's that like?... of course you don't, both your parents are always there for you and love you, you pretend to be my friend and help me out with my shit but you can't possibly understand what I'm going threw" he said with high intensity in his eyes. I had never seen him so angry, that it was a little overwhelming to watch.

Trent scoffed to himself and ran his hands down his face before going to pace back and fourth in the room. "Pretend to be your friend?... I've been there for you ever since you were 16 years old man, name one time when I treated you like shit-

"It was your fault that I was locked up for six months. I took the blame for what you did and rotted in that fucking hell hole for six months. Don't bother saying anything else because you know that you wouldn't do the same for me... just get the fuck out of my face man" he murmured the last bit, before slowly turning his back to him. Trent stared at his back for several seconds not saying anything, before turning around to quickly storm towards the door. He glanced down at me still angry at what had just went down with Austin before going to walk past me.

Taking in a deep breath, I turned around to watch Trent walk out the building, before stepping inside the room and slowly closing the door behind me. "Austin-

"Just leave...please" he said quietly, whilst avoiding turning around to face me. I stared at his back for a brief while, before placing the ice pack, first aid kit, and some of the food I had bought for him at the supermarket on the table. "I had to do it, for your sake" I uttered and with that I turned around to head out the door and out the building.

I slowly walked down the street thinking about everything that happened. Even though he had asked me to be there always, I guess there were times when he very much needed his space. Sighing to myself, I turned to cross the road, till I spotted two people walking hand in hand and laughing to themselves. My backpack slowly slipped out of my hands and down to the ground as I watched my Father hold hands with another girl twice his age, but it wasn't just any other girl, it was Piper's older sister; who I first saw at the restaurant on the day of Dez's birthday. As she looked over across the street catching my gaze, a smirk slowly etched at the corner of my lips, and before I knew it, she had quickly pulled him in for a kiss, whilst still gazing across the street at me.

This couldn't be happening, I thought to myself as I felt my life force slowly being sucked out of me.

* * *

 _ **Aaand huge plot twist! what do you think will happen now with Ally and her Father, and why do you think Piper's sister became involved him?. This is one of my favourite chapters that I've ever written as I really dived in into the growing yet complicated relationship of A &A and also a more emotional side of Austin that we haven't seen yet. If you enjoyed the chapter don't forget to review and also let me know what you thought of:**_

 ** _-Austin's & Ally's complicated relationship_**

 ** _-Austin's fight with Dave_**

 ** _-Austin & Trent's huge fight_**

 ** _-Ally's sleazy father hooking up with Piper's sister._**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

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The day was overcast and gloomy. It had been like that for the past couple days, it was almost as if it was mocking how I felt inside or how I wanted not to feel. This was the end and I knew it, but was I really prepared for it. I knew this day would come, I just didn't expect it to be so soon.

I tucked my hair behind my ears and put on a pair of sunglasses as I stood near the end of the Miami beach, where he had asked to meet and talk. I couldn't have him know the pain he had caused me for the couple of days just by looking into my eyes, I couldn't appear as weak and selfless in front of the man who had already crushed every living self-esteem that still remained in me. Taking one last breath, I turned to glance my head over at the small bench he was sited at the far end of the shore. I felt my fingers twitch and my heart ache in disgust as I stood gazing at him. I wasn't sure why I had agreed to meet him here when I could barely stand the sight of him after what I had saw. I had caught him in the act several times, but this time it was truly different, I knew that if I yelled and screamed at him like last time, it wouldn't go away and he knew it too. I had ignored his sins for too long to let it eventually happen again.

Dragging my feet against the sand and feeling the pebbles crunch under my shoes, I slowly walked over to the bench and took a seat beside him, making sure to leave a clear space between us. I felt his gaze turn to look at me, but I dared not to return it, instead I kept looking straight ahead at the waves flowing back and fourth, secretly hoping that I would somehow get engulfed in it away from him. The last time I was this close to him was when he had kicked me out of the house several weeks ago, and I felt a little uneasy thinking back to that particular, horrific night that I still had nightmares about.

A howling gale blew across the shore, the water was a dirty grey with wild white tops. I watched how the water flowed onto the shore before turning my head to glance at a Father and toddler Daughter, who ran along the beach laughing to themselves with her tucked away in his arms. That certainly brought back a lot of memories, memories of when I was just a little girl. Life was great back then, I had no worries, no stress, and more importantly, I loved him. I remember how I would stay back to wait for him to come home from work and immediately run into his arms as he enters the front door, I remember how he would call me his little princess and angel, I remember how he would hold my hand and walk me to school on most days, I remember how he would read me bed time stories and immediately tuck me to sleep afterwards. I remember it all. I thought that those little things would last forever, I thought that even if he stopped holding my hand and calling me his princess, he would still show me his smile that made me trust and believe in him. It was after everything fell apart between us that I started to believe that nothing truly lasts forever just because you want it to.

"Thank you for coming, Ally" the sound of his voice was so hollow and vacant, it almost felt as if he had became a stranger. It amazed me how much disgust I could feel towards the man who was there on the day I was born. Most teenage girls I knew loved and cherished their fathers, and I often felt guilty for not feeling the same way. I thought that there was something wrong with me because of it, I mean what child isn't supposed to love their parents, right? wrong. I felt nothing but hatred towards him. Even if he had wanted to rebuild our relationship as Father and daughter, it would've been far too late because all the trust that I felt towards him years ago was now dead and gone.

"Grandma sent me this picture from Washington yesterday... I guess she wanted to remind me how close we were when I was little" I scoffed bringing out a small picture from my pocket of my Dad and I building sand castles at a beach, almost like the one we were in. With slight hesitation, I slowly ripped up the picture, before allowing it to flow down onto the sand. I watched as the wind quickly swept the ripped picture away towards the shore as I tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "Grandma's a good woman... I just can't believe she let you marry mom... I can't believe she would give away her daughter to a man who would purposely try to ruin his family by sleeping with girls twice his age" I muttered as he sat quietly refusing to utter a single word.

As each second went passed, it somehow felt as if the light was fading from from my very eyes and creating new shadows and dark patches around me. I adjusted my sunglasses as I felt it slipping from my eyes before leaning back on the bench. "Why?... when you moved us to Miami was your intentions just to have multiple affairs over and over until one of us finds out?" I said, trying to sound as calmly as possible. "You know that mom will never leave you, she's been in love with you ever since she was 17, so why do you do this to her, why do you do this to us?. Is this really how you want me to remember you forever?" I hissed refusing to glance over at him as I knew if I did I might instantly break down into tears.

My Parents met in a small town in Washington DC in the early 90's. My mother being the naive teenage girl that she's always been had fell head over heels in love with my 20-something year old dad at first sight. The two began a romance which lead to her running away to be with him and within two years they gave birth to me. I thought that we were the perfect family, most of my friends from school had parents who were already divorced at that time and I remember bragging about how in love my parents were and how they were going to be together forever no matter what, I was so sure of that because of the way they not only treated each other, but also the way they treated me. I had thought that life back then for us was something you would normally see out of a fairy tale, but I guess I was too young back then to really understand what was going on. It wasn't until the night of 9th birthday that I realised that perfect vision I had of our family of three wasn't real and it didn't take long to figure out that they had been unhappy for a long time, all because of me. I was too naive and innocent to notice. Every since my 9th birthday, there wasn't a day that went past where I didn't constantly blame myself for how things had ended up between them.

"I was an accident wasn't I" I snarled continuing to look straight ahead. "You and mom were having fun being together and I had to come and fuck things up for you guys, didn't I?" I hissed irritatingly. "Why... why didn't you guys just get rid of me when you had the chance, at least that way I wouldn't have ended up like this... I can't- I can't even look at myself in the mirror without feeling disgusted and hating myself more and more... this is all your fault you know that" I exclaimed gripping onto my jean jacket to avoid bursting into tears. "

He paused for a brief while and the next thing that came out of his mouth was something that I expected, but was least expecting at the same time. "Me and your mother are getting a divorce..." I still remember the sharp tone in his voice as he uttered those words even till this day. "I'll be moving out, you should go back to the house and stay with her, she needs her and she missed you too".

"Which one of you mistresses are you leaving her for?, or better yet which one of them did you 'accidentally get pregnant?-

"Ally, Listen-

"Don't tell me to listen old man!" I snapped, shaking uncontrollably afterwards. The Father and daughter near the shore had stopped what they were doing to glance over at us over the sound of my loud and heavy voice, and I quickly lowered their heads to avoid their gazes. I was absolutely furious and livid, but I knew that I had to control my anger, even though I felt like lashing out at him. "I always knew you'd end up leaving her someday..." I hissed glancing down at my entwined fingers. "Mom was just like me when she was 17, she had dreams too, but you fucked that up for her, just like you fucked up this family with your selfishness." I snarled as I felt warm tears sprinkling into my eyes yet again.

He lowered his head, his eyes filled with somewhat regret as he listened to me speak.

"You both ruined me, do you know how much I blame myself everyday for your fucked up marriage. Your supposed to be my parents, your supposed to do anything other than crush me and treat me like crap. Why did you move us out here when you were only gonna end up leaving us?. why did you do all this?" I cried before frustratingly running my fingers through my hair. I took of my sunglasses and placed it to the side before covering my face with my hands as tears began to rapidly stream down my face. "Just what kind of father are you?... You've completely fucked me up and scarred me for life, I'm supposed to be fucking happy, I'm supposed to live a normal teenage life, but I can't because its all your fault, you did this to me and you won't even look me in the eyes because you know you fucked up!" I yelled turning my head to look at him, not caring who was watching.

"If you wanna go fuck girls twice your age then do just that, because even though you've disappointed me, I promise that I will look after mom, something you couldn't do and I promise that I won't blame myself any longer, even if it takes me years to get over, that I'll start loving who I am inside and not who I am on the outside..." I bawled before leaning back into the bench to wipe away all my tears and look straight ahead. "I would say thanks for everything Lester, but what is it that you really did...?" I muttered as the sound of the waves grew louder and louder.

He said nothing afterwards which lead me to believe that he was a bigger coward than I already imagined. I had released all of my frustrations that I hid deep inside me for his sake, and for the first time in nine years, I felt somewhat relieved, like I could really fulfil all those promises if I worked hard at it. I knew that this was indeed the end, and I didn't bother saying anything else because there was nothing else truly left to say. After a while, I picked up my sunglasses and placed it back on my eye before breathing in the scent of the salty water. I looked over at the Father and daughter who had carried on running around and laughing before turning my head to glance at my Dad who hung his head low in shame, refusing to even look at me. Taking one last look at him, I slowly got up from the bench and walked off, trailing along the sand on the way and never stopping to look back.

I remember that day so well, because it was the day that I last laid eyes on my father.

* * *

I stood on my front porch staring at my front door as I thought of what to do. I could tell some neighbours were watching my every move from out their windows, they obviously remembered the fight between my Dad and I the last time, but I didn't pay attention to it. I took of my sunglasses and looked around the house before lowering my head afterwards. What was the point of buying such a nice house if he didn't intend to live in it for much longer. I truly wanted to forget everything about him as he had chosen to do the same by leaving us.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly walked up to the front door and brought out my keys from my bag to open door. I haven't stepped foot inside that house ever since I was kicked it, and it almost felt as if I was breaking in. I would never forget the feeling of isolation and anxiety I felt as I closed the door behind me and turned to look around the place. It somehow felt different. The aura and atmosphere was hauntingly silent, almost something out of a horror movie.

I strolled into the living room to see the whole room turned upside down. The table was flipped upside down, their wedding pictures were smashed on the ground and some of the other pictures with the three of us in it. I crouched down to pick up an almost broken framed picture of the three of us. As I stared at the picture, my eyes couldn't help but wonder yet again. I remember the day we took the picture like it was yesterday. I was around six or seven years old and it was the first time they took me to a local carnival in the small town we lived in. They had spent the day going on every ride with me, and buying me all the snacks and candy I wanted just to make me happy and near the end of the day, we had found a photo booth and took the picture. It amazed me how much I remembered it so well. I focused on the way they held me in their arms and looked at me like I was their whole world. They looked so happy, little did I know that it was all fake. Every smile, laugh and special moment was just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and crush our family into small, tiny pieces.

 _Why did it have to end like this?, why did it have to end up that way?._

Wiping away the tear that rolled down my cheek, I placed the picture back down on the floor before getting up and looking around the living room in distress. After soaking everything in, I turned to head up the stairs, making sure to take my time and think about everything that's lead up to this moment.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway and peered inside my parent's bedroom to see my mom. She laid on the bed staring at the ceiling whilst blowing onto the cigarette pressed between her fingers. She was so lost in her own thoughts, that she was oblivious to the fact that I had strolled in the room, slightly closing the door behind me. As I watched her from beside the door, I noticed small tiny crystal beads creep out of her eyes, one after another, soon it turned into a flowing stream of sorrow that ran down her face and dropped from her pointed chin into her shirt and landing on the bed sheets. The blank, emotionless expression swept over her face as the realisation of the moment gradually seeped in. The fear seemed to rise behind her eyes like a caged animal as she sat there paralysed by the feeling of pure isolation. As I continue to stare at her, I could see the despair and pain in her eyes. It felt as if she was lost in a little world of her own and there was nothing that I could do to snap her out of it.

If she loved my Dad a little less then it wouldn't have been like that, she would've had no problem getting over him, but since she had given up her life for him and given up everything for him for almost 20 years, it was something that she slowly had to get used to. Even when he still left her, it felt like she was still choosing him over me yet again. What was I supposed to do with her mother so naive and emotionally drained out by her husband?.

I ran my hands down my face before slowly walking over to her. As I took a seat on the bed beside her, her head quickly shot up as she stared at me in shock, not believing that I was in the room with her, seeing as how I had refused to see her or answer any of her calls for a couple weeks. "Ally, you're back?..." she breathed out in a slight whisper with tears staining her cheeks. She hovered her hand over me, not sure if she should touch me or not before looking back down on the bed sheets. "Y-Your Father... he left me yesterday... I don't know what I did wrong" she sobbed burying her face in her hand.

I stared down at her with a little pity before looking straight ahead at the wall. I guess without realising it at first she was a lot like me as we both blamed ourselves for things that weren't clearly our faults. "You look tired, you should get some sleep, I'll be downstairs tidying everywhere" I said in a monotone voice before slowly getting up from the bed and heading towards the door until I was quickly stopped by the sound of her voice. "Ally... I'm sorry for everything, you're still my daughter and I love you... please come back home for good, I missed you so so much" she pleaded, whilst tightly gripping onto the bed sheets.

"Yeah..." I muttered staring back at her with tears in my eyes for a brief moment before turning to walk out the door.

 _~Hours later._

It was some time around six in the evening and I was in the kitchen cooking dinner for my mom and I.

I watched the cars pass by from the window before turning around to look at my mom, as she sat near the dining table with her hand placed on her head. I could tell that she tried not to break down in front of me, but she wasn't as strong as she seemed. We hardly spoke to each other that day, but I knew that I still had to look after her as she heavily relied on my dad for a lot of things. Even though she was in her middle 30's, she often acted like teenager and sometimes I felt as if I were the mother. But I didn't blame her, she had dropped out of school and ran away from my grandma, her mother just for him. She didn't learn anything or pick up some tips about life along the way because he had 'promised' to take care of her forever- that forever only lasted for almost 20 years.

I turned back around about to carry on with the cooking till I heard my phone beep from beside me, and I quickly picked it up to see that it was a text from Austin. _'Can you come over'._ I read through the text over and over before placing the phone closer to my ears and letting out a deep sigh. The last time I saw him was a couple days ago when I watched him get beaten up in the fight and I guess without realising it I had been ignoring him since then. I hadn't answered any phone calls or replied to his texts due to the fact that I was so focused on the issue with my dad, but it didn't mean that I didn't miss him a whole lot, I missed seeing his face and spending time with him even if it had only days.

"Uhm... I'm going out, I'll be back later" I spoke up, placing my phone in my back pocket and taking of the apron.

She slowly removed her hand from her head and looked up at me with her weary and tired eyes, before slowly forming a stretched smile on her face. "I'll carry on with dinner, if you get back late I'll leave some in the fridge for you" she said, but it sounded almost like a whisper. I stared down at her a little worriedly and nodded my head before turning around to head out the kitchen. I knew that she cried after I left because she was trying so hard to not break down yet again in front of me, but how could I find the strength in me to comfort her when I myself needed comforting.

* * *

An hour later, I slowly opened the door to Austin's apartment with the key Trent had given me before slowly stepping inside.

I placed my handbag to the side, before turning my head to look around the living room only to see that he was nowhere to be found. I called his name and when he didn't answer, I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I started to panic as I rushed into every room to see if he was in there, before running inside his bedroom to see him laying on his bed fast asleep and I breathed out a sigh of relief, before slowly and carefully closing the door behind me so I wouldn't wake him. I took of my jacket and placed it to the side before strolling over to his bed to slowly lay next to him. The bruises in his face and body was still evident, but he still looked so gorgeous and beautiful despite it. It was the first time that I had ever seen him sleep and I couldn't help but gawk at his peaceful face. He looked like an angel who had no problems or troubles in the world. I could lay next to him and watch him sleep forever, if I could.

For the first time that day, I found a smile slowly creeping up near my lips. I lifted my hand up to grasp the plaster on his nose, but before I could, he quickly jolted up from his pillow, whilst rapidly breathing in and out. "Austin, Austin calm down its me" I said softly placing my hand on his chest and trying my best to calm him down. The look on his face was filled with pure horror, but as he turned his head to look at me, it began to slowly vanish. "Are you alright?, sorry that I couldn't get here sooner, there was a little traffic" I asked soothingly gazing up into his eyes. He stared down at me for a brief moment like he was trying to figure something out, and before I knew it, he quickly wrapped his arms around my back pulling me into a hug. He held me tightly, his breath hot against my neck. I closed my eyes shut, relaxing to the feeling of his strong arms around me before squeezing onto his neck tightly, whilst running my fingers through his blonde locks. As he leaned his head down on my shoulder, I pulled him closer to me and with that we fell back down onto the bed.

"How are your bruises?" I asked gently stroking his hair as he relaxed onto my chest. "Have you gone to see a doctor at least, if you haven't we can go tomorrow if you want-

"What's the matter?" he asked quickly cutting me off my sentence. I almost forgot how well he could read me like a book and understand if something was wrong just by my facial expression and body language. "What do you mean, I'm fine" I chuckled releasing my arm around me and pushing my head of the pillow. I scratched the back of my head about to get of the bed, but before I could, he quickly held onto my hand pulling me back.

"I asked what's the matter-

"God its nothing, just leave me alone" I hissed rapidly pushing his arm of me. "Just because I look tired doesn't mean something's wrong" I said before turning my back to him. "And do you expect me to believe that?" he groaned irritatingly before kissing his teeth.

As I stared over at the wall avoiding turning back to face him, my eyes started to brim with tears yet again. My lips trembled nervously as I fiddled around with my fingers whilst lowering my head. I took a long, shuddering breath and blinked rapidly to see past the rim warm wetness threatening to over spill my eyes, but that didn't work as within a couple seconds later, I had quickly burst into tears, instantly regretting it afterwards. I covered my face with my hands as I began to think about everything that's happened so far. My father had left us just like that, without any reason behind it, and my mother just didn't know how to cope with it. It almost made me not want to go back to that house because I couldn't stand seeing her in pain and seeing her hold back the tears and grief that he had caused. I was sure that the minute I step back inside that house again I would end up feeling worse than I did then. How was I supposed to cope with something like that, what would anyone do in my situation?. I was tired of pretending to be fine when I was really the complete opposite.

Feeling myself slowly losing control of my emotions, I quickly sat up from the bed before rapidly drying my tears with my sleeve. "I-I'm sorry but I have to go" I breathed out before rushing over to the door. As I was about to twist open the door handle, I felt his arms quickly wrap around me from behind, pulling me back. "Austin, please let me go, I just don't want you to see me like this" I sniffed trying my best to struggle out of his tight grip, but it was no use as he was far too strong.

"If I let you go then you're gonna have to let me go to, Ally" he muttered down in my ear sending shivers down my spine. "I don't care if you're crying, laughing or shouting, I'm not gonna let you leave so tell me what's wrong?" he questioned sternly before grabbing hold of my shoulders and spinning me around to face him. He grabbed hold of my chin forcing me to look up into his eyes, before wiping away my tears with his thumb. His touch was so gentle, so warm and comforting, that it made me cry even more.

After I had finished crying, I had no choice but to tell him everything. From when I had saw Piper's sister with my dad a couple days ago to everything that had happened today. At first he was somewhat angry and annoyed, as I didn't tell him all this sooner. After I had finished telling him everything, I remember how we laid back on the bed, with me laying on his chest listening to the sound of his heartbeat and wishing that I could lay there with him forever.

After everything that happened today, it turns out that he was the comfort that I most needed.

* * *

 _ **This was a pretty emotional chapter right. I'm not gonna say much here, but if you enjoyed it, don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it. Love you guys!**_


	13. Special Chapter

_***Please read***_

 _ **This is a special filler chapter for you guys to get an idea on Austin's thoughts and emotions about Ally in the story. I wasn't going to do an Austin POV since this is Ally's story, but I thought I'd dedicate a whole chapter to it.**_

 _ **Again: this chapter isn't part of the actual story, its just a mini insight to Austin's POV so far. I hope you all enjoy and take away from it, Its going to be pretty deep.**_

* * *

She looks at me like I'm the only thing that matters. She stays with me in my apartment almost everyday, it was small but she didn't complain, she loved being there and I loved her being there too. She tells me that I'm a good person, she compliments my art and laughs at my snark remarks even though they aren't normally funny. She touches and holds me whenever I'm feeling moody or emotionally drained out to remind me that she was there. She smiles at me like I'm all she's ever wanted and all she will ever want, and when she stares into my eyes for as long as possible, I can feel the whole of heaven in the room with us.

I watched her from across my living room as she sat on the stool near the window reading her favourite novel ' _The Great Gatsby'_ out loud. She wants to be an author, I'm the first person she's ever told that too, not even Trish and Dez knows. The fact that she trusted me with something so secretive made us closer than ever. She doesn't think she's good enough to make it, but if only she knew just how smart she really was, just how much potential she has to go out and do something great with her life.

Hearing her read and watching the excitement in her face light up with each word was an instant turn on. Her voice is sweet and smooth, like silk. As soothing to the tongue as chocolates. It was like a siren call song, rich and vibrant, and the words flowed out of her mouth hauntingly and pure. _Have you ever just sat back and listened to a person talk and be hooked on every word they said?._ I loved to hear her talk. Her wit and charm was only rivalled by her sheer genius, and I counted myself lucky to even know her, much less get the chance to have her in my life.

She looked over at me and smiled her usual hypnotising and heart-warming smile, and I leaned back on the sofa and smiled back, shocking her a little since I rarely ever smiled. I never had a reason to smile before, I never thought that I would have a reason to smile and to see the small light from the end of the tunnel until I met her.

The first day I met her she had offered to pay for my cigarettes and milk. I had no idea who she was and she had no idea who I was, but she still offered her money anyway. Even though she was new, she couldn't have missed the rumours that were constantly spoken about in school everyday. There was no point in letting her pay for me, because I was sure she would come to believe all those rumours like everybody else, but it turned out that I was wrong, so wrong. She wasn't like everybody else. I never believed in having that 'special' person in your life, but she's made sure to leave a huge stance in my life. She is more than special, she's perfect.

I watched as she continued to read through the pages out loud. It felt as if she was reading to me. Catching my gaze, she slowly placed the book down as she rested the side of her head on the window and gazed back at me. She has such a natural beauty, the kind you rarely ever saw. She has the prettiest dark brown eyes I have ever seen, they were so clear and looked as if they had a twinkle in them. Whenever I looked at her for too long, I felt un-worthy, like I didn't deserve to look at someone that beautiful. I didn't deserve her in my life at all. Even though I had asked her to make such a big promise to me, if she ever decided that she didn't wanna follow on with it anymore, I would gladly step back as she could do much better than make such a promise with a guy like me. Her beauty made you want to stare at all her features and wonder which one made her so outstandingly perfect. Her personality went along with her beauty, natural herself, which radiated her even more. Her smile made her look so innocent, it was out of this world, I knew that I'm hooked on her and in too deep, but can you really blame me.

But she didn't see the beauty in her like I did. Even though she puts on a tough face, I had come to know her too well to know that she was insecure about herself in every way. She believed in everybody else but not in herself. I wanted to tell her that there was no reason for her to ever doubt herself; that she was more beautiful than any other girl I have ever laid eyes on, but that would be giving too much away.

 _"We should go out to eat, its a nice day outside, don't you think?"_ she chuckled in her sweet, delicate voice looking down the window.

The power she had over me was insane that it made me nervous to even be in the same room with her. She turned her head back to smile at me and I couldn't help but smile back again. _"If you want to..."_ I replied leaning further back on the sofa as she quickly made her way to sit beside me. She hesitantly placed her head on my shoulder, causing my whole body to quickly tense up. I hated and loved the effect she had on me.

Our relationship wasn't all it seemed. I told her how I had felt about her, but seeing how awkward it was afterwards and how she didn't respond, I decided not to bring it up again, but it doesn't mean that I ever stopped. I am so completely and utterly infatuated with her, and so close to being in love. No one had ever had this much effect on me in my life and I knew that it could only mean one thing. I had fallen for her the first time I watched her dance along to my Father's ukulele playing, on the night we first spent together on the bench. I hadn't seen my old man smile or laugh the way she made him laugh ever since my mother was in his life, and all it took was her dancing to make him feel the joy he once felt when my mother used to dance along to his playing years ago. I couldn't take my eyes of her, even though there were a lot of people who walked by and gave her strange looks, she didn't give a care in the world. She was happy to stand there and dance forever if she could, if she only could. It wasn't a crush as I initially thought, but it was something more, something that I wasn't expecting to feel suddenly and it was all because of her.

I glanced down at her as she leaned comfortably on my shoulder gaping up at me, and just like that we were lost in each other's eyes yet again. The eye contact was almost becoming unbearable as I wanted to do so much whenever we got stuck in moments like these, but I know that I can't act on my feelings no matter what, I can't ruin what we have going on, and I most certainly can't lose her. I wonder if she knew just how badly I wanted her, I wonder if she felt the same way about me that I do for her, I wonder if she noticed the way I would catch quick glances at her whenever she wasn't looking, and I wonder if she knew how incredibly fascinated I was by her mere existence. As much as I hated wondering, I knew I had to keep her this way in order to keep her in my life.

She slowly lifted her hand up to grasp the bruises on my face that was yet to heal from my fight last week. It was a difficult day for the both of us that I tried not to think about too often. I clenched my jaw tightly as she slowly ran her hands down my face, her fingers tracing along at every bone structure. Whenever she touched me like that each time, it becomes very difficult to hold myself back from her. If only she knew how her touch burns through my skin and pumps blood into my sure if I would be able to control myself for much longer, I slowly removed her hand from my face and shifted away from her to calm myself down. I could tell that she is a little disappointed by it, but its simply for her own good. I was hungry for her in every way possible, and I wouldn't know how to act if I found that I couldn't properly stop myself. I might end up hurting her and that's one thing I simply couldn't bring mysellf to do. I would rather hurt myself first than hurt her.

In the past three months that I've known her, she has helped me in ways that I couldn't even imagine. Its no secret that I've had a rough past and suffered a lot. The biggest downfall of my life was when I lost my little brother to suidice. Right then I truly didn't care if I lived or died. I didn't speak for a whole year, there was no reason to. She didn't pressure me to tell her everything about my past, she knew it was dark and painful and that's all I could ever really tell her. I couldn't find it in myself to tell her why my mother had ended up in jail and why things had fell apart in our family of four. I couldn't relieve those painful memories again, I couldn't put myself through that emotional trauma I tried so hard to get away from for years.

I was a total mess but she didn't seem to care. I have deep mental health issues and social anxiety that I tried to hide away from her the majority of the time. I don't know what is right and what is wrong, the only thing I know is trying my best to survive in this world that completely fucked me over. Truth is; I had planned to kill myself on the night I had watched her dance freely, but after sitting with her for hours, I felt an inner peace that I had never felt after suffering so much all these years. She saved me, she saved me from taking my own life without knowing it and for that I am forever grateful to her. I didn't think my life had a purpose before I knew her, but now that we made such a promise to each other, I have never wanted to stay alive more to be with her always and love her unconditionally. Even if she never found out my true feelings, I guess I'm okay with that, just as long as I get to love her and protect her as much as I want.

 _"Well then, lets go'_ she said getting up from the sofa and pulling me up with her. She was so small compared to me that whenever we hugged I feared not to hold her too tightly in case I accidentally crush her. It also made me want to protect her even more. She beamed up at me before picking up her handbag and swinging it over her shoulder and I couldn't help but fall back into the features of her pale, delicate face. She had been through a lot with her own family, but she never let that bother her as her main concern was me. It often made me feel useless as I couldn't be there for her like she was for me. I too wanted to save her just like she had saved me.

As I picked up the keys of my motorcycle, she suggested we walk instead and so we did just that. As we strolled outside my apartment and apartment building, we wasted no time etching our hands together and interlocking it just like we always did. It amazed me how we had become so close that I could hold her hand without any awkwardness around us. Holding hands wasn't just a way to close the unnecessary gap between us, whenever I hols her small, soft hands into mine, I feel like I'm on top of the world. _Why did a simple hand holding make me so damn nervous?._

 _"Your hands are cold"_ she said stopping to quickly rub her hands with mine in order to heat them up. I watched as she placed her hand underneath her chin and shut her eyes for a brief moment before looking back up at me. _"I think they're warm enough now"_ she chuckled and with that, we carried on slowly walking down the pavement.

Sometimes I forget just how incredibly lucky I was to have her in my life. It was something that I was still getting used to, due to the fact that I've been on my own ever since. There wasn't a night that went past when I didn't have nightmares and visions about my past and it put in a pretty bad mood; but when I see her face, the trauma and heartache that I suffered through all night seems to instantly fade away. It was all because of her. She was like an angel sent into my life when I was least expecting it, and I guess I was now happy. I never thought that I would ever feel such happiness in my life, especially being around one person. I thought that I didn't deserve to feel happiness, but she thought otherwise. I knew that this feeling might not last forever, nothing really lasts forever, but as long as I have her in my life, I want to make the most of this feeling and live it with her.

I want her to see me smile more, to see me laugh more, I want her to see how much she's changed me in so little time, to see just how much she means to me even if I have a terrible way of showing it. As we continued to walk down the pavement hand-in-hand, she started to hum the tune 'Careless whisper'. It was the song my old man played in the background when we first made the promise to each other, and she would often hum along to the song even without knowing it.

As we walked past a group of guys, I noticed how they couldn't help but check her out and it instantly made me furious. She never noticed these things, but I did due to the fact that I was so cautious of the world whenever I was with her. I don't particularly like to claim her as we weren't in a relationship, but I like to think that she was mine and I was hers. Right now I guess we were just friends but I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be in a relationship with her. My last relationship with Piper was a nightmare for me in every way, I guess the only reason why I stayed with her for that long was because I was lonely, but I knew I couldn't pretend any longer.

 _"Whats wrong, you seem a little upset?"_ she asked squeezing my hand tightly, almost as if she was scared that I would pull away from her. I could never.

 _"I'm fine"_ I said briefly not wanting to drag on with the conversation and luckily she caught on. As she ran her finger across my palm soothingly, I couldn't help but suck in a slow, deep breath, whilst closing my eyes for just a moment.

I tried so hard to fight this feeling that I felt for her ever since it was clear. For a while I kept telling myself it wasn't right; that I wasn't worthy and she deserved better. The biggest problem I have is that I'm she would end up probably hurting me, and that's something that I couldn't bring myself to comprehend. She has given me every reason to trust her and ever reason to believe that she won't, but I still feared for the worse. I never planned for this to happen, I never planned to feel this way. It almost made me wish that I could remain like this with her forever, but I would be asking for too much, and plus life wasn't a fairytale and just because I wanted something, doesn't mean it would come true.

My feelings for her didn't justify any type of future we had together. That's what I told myself regularly, in case things were to eventually fall apart between us.

I looked down at her as she carried on humming whilst returning my gaze. A sly smirk quickly tugged at the corner of her lips and before I knew it she quickly let go of my hand and ran in front of me. _"C'mon"_ she laughed running down the street and signalling for me to follow.

There was no guarantee that I was going to have her in my life forever, but now that I do have her, I wouldn't miss an opportunity to make each moment worth it. I wanted this promise to last, even if I do whatever it takes to make it happen.

* * *

 _ **Who knew Austin felt this way, huh?.**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

It was an bright and early Thursday morning, and I was over at Austin's apartment.

I squinted at the blinding sun that shone through the dim curtains as I laid on his sofa, clinging onto the thin and warm blanket he had placed over me earlier on. I rubbed my eyes together before turning my head to glance around the room to see him sitting on the stool near the window whilst gazing of into the distance with a cigarette pressed between his lips. Beside him was an unfinished painting of a house which was surrounded by trees and bushes. He never really got around to finish painting it, almost as if he couldn't find the inspiration he was looking for.

I snuggled up into a ball as I continued to gaze at his emotionless and painful expression whilst thinking about everything that had happened till then. Ever since my Dad left it had been especially difficult for me to live with my mom. We often had fights where we blamed each other of his departure and fights about how she was in-capable to look after me. I was supposed to be the daughter and she the mother, but it felt like I was constantly picking up the broken hearts of a teenage girl who had made a big mistake in marrying the man she fell in love with at first sight years ago. I knew that she needed me more than anything especially at a time like that, but I just found it hard to continuing carrying her burden after putting up with it all my life. It was the reason why I spent more time with Austin in his apartment, I mean it was as if I practically lived there, he had become the most important person in my life, and without realising it, I began to fall for him... I began to fall hard. I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing to feel this way about him but I couldn't stop even if I wanted to.

After a short while, I slowly got up from the sofa, wrapping the blanket around me, before slowly walking over to him. I wrapped my arms around him from behind with the blanket so he was warm enough before pressing my chin on his shoulders and shutting my eyes. We didn't have any problems or worries whenever we were together at first, it was so peaceful and calm with just him and I, it made me want to be with him forever. I knew nothing lasted forever, but for once in my life, I found myself wishing otherwise.

He held onto my hand, slightly placing it just above his chest as it started to beat faster and faster by the second. Whenever we held each other like this, I could almost feel the whole of heaven in the room with us. He smelled like the sweetest thing I could ever imagine. There was days in his apartment when we just spent the day gazing at each other, analysing what made us so drawn and attached to one another and why we just couldn't stay away. As my hands spread out across the expanse of his back, he draws in a deep breath and tilts his head back. As I stood holding him from behind, the soft spring breeze from out the window quickly blew in, cooling my heated skin. I realised that no matter how much I tried right then, I'd never ever be able to turn and walk away from him.

"We should start leaving for school soon, Trish and Dez will be waiting" I muttered quietly before slowly releasing my arms from around him and staring over at the clock.

As he let out a quiet groan under his breath and blew out the whiff of his cigarette smoke, his phone began to ring. I glanced down at the Caller Id on the table to see that it was Trent, before looking back at Austin to see him gazing out the window, almost oblivious and unaware to the fact that it was ringing. Once the ringing stopped, I sighed to myself before crossing my arms above my chest and speaking up. "Austin, Trent's called you twice this morning and three times yesterday, when are you gonna answer his calls and just go talk to him, its been weeks since you guys fell out... he cares a lot about you or he won't be calling you up like this" I stated, hoping to get a reaction out of him, but nothing, instead, he sat continuing to gaze out the window ignoring me.

"Austin, just listen-

"Just drop it Ally... I'm not in the mood" he hissed a little frustratingly before throwing his cigarette out the window and running his fingers through his hair.

I rolled my eyes away from him before dropping my arms to the side and turning my back to him. When things began to slowly calm down between us several minutes later, I slowly walked over to the wall where he hung all his family pictures and began to study them yet again. As I stared at a picture of Austin's mom and Dad hugging his brother from behind near a pool, I couldn't help but smile to myself. They looked like any regular and happy family in the beginning, who would've thought that their fate would end up being tragic and devastating. I crouched down to stare at a picture of Austin and his mother from when he was about to 6-7 years old. It was the only picture on the wall that included him on it. I gaped deeply at the way he grinned widely, almost as bright as the sun. Who knew that he was capable of showing such a smile before everything had fell apart for him. Even though he had started to smile at more more than he did in the beginning, it was nothing close as his smile in the picture. I wondered if I would ever get to see such a smile on his face.

I got back up from the floor before turning back around to Austin who gaped back at me. "Your mom is so beautiful..." I muttered, going to sit opposite him. "Its her birthday today...I almost forgot" he uttered leaving me a little speechless. Austin rarely ever spoke about his mother, and I didn't bother asking him because I knew that I was only going to get ignored. But I couldn't help but wander why she ended up in jail and what she did to be put in there for a decade. He never went to visit her regularly, because I could tell that it pained him to do so. After all, I couldn't imagine what its like for him to come face to face with the woman who was taken away from him when he was only a child. The day that I first saw them together down at the female police station, the look on his face was filled with so much discomfort and agony , it felt as if he was meeting a stranger for the first time and not the woman who gave birth to him.

"Oh" I stammered whilst fiddling around with my fingers as I searched for the right words to say. "Don't you think you should go see her? I mean don't you think she would love to see you today of all days?... I can come if you want" I spoke slowly reaching my hand over to place it gently on his lap. The look in his eyes after I uttered those words were so lonesome. The glint they had that revealed a world of darkness and even though he would try to hide it by looking away or lowering his head, his eyes revealed it all. He didn't need to say anything because the colourless look in his eyes told me everything. I could see such sorrow and regret in his eyes that it felt as if he was speaking his emotions out loud.

After a brief moment, he slowly pulled his hand away from mine, before getting up from the stool and rubbing his eyes along the way. "Lets go" he muttered sternly before going over to grab his back pack and the keys to his motorcycle as I sighed to myself before pushing the hair out of my face. Despite how close we've become, I knew how hard it was for him to still tell me things from his past.

I grabbed my backpack from the side, and quickly swung it over my shoulder before following after him from behind. As we walked down the stairs, I could tell how distant he was being from me and that could only mean he was in deep thought of something or someone. I joined my hands and slowly strolled behind him daring not to say a word. As we stepped out the apartment building, the soft breeze quickly blew in our direction. I went to push the hair out of my eyes, till I glanced over across the street, spotting Piper leaning against her car. Her eyes were red and weary, and I could tell she had been crying, but her face was filled with so much anger than nothing else mattered to her at that point. As she slammed her door shut and stormed over to us, I began to think back to when I had saw her sister with my Father. I wanted to scream and lash out at her as I knew she was behind all of it, but instead, I stood frozen to the ground unable to speak up. It was as if whenever I saw her, I was reminded of the person I truly am and all of the insecurities and self-doubt that I hid deep down instantly take out, overtaking my body and emotions.

She peered down at me bitterly, before turning to look up at Austin who gazed back down at her with a blank expression. It was the first time that I saw them together ever since that day at the warehouse. Looking at the both of them, you would think they would make a great couple, not knowing the toxic and poisonous relationship they once shared in the past. He ran his fingers through his hair about to turn to walk to his motorcycle, but before he could, she quickly held him back by his arm. "A-Austin, babe..." she cried instantly burying her face in his chest not caring that I was there. He didn't push her away nor did he hold her. It was as if he wasn't sure of what to do so he just stood there allowing her to hold him and sob in his chest for what seemed like forever. "My Dad passed in his sleep yesterday and Alex is out of town, I just need somebody right now, I need you. I can't take being without you anymore" she cried louder, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, almost like a child begging for something to her parents. It truly disgusted me just how much she pleaded for him to love her, when he never did in the first place. "You're so unfair you know that, I gave you everything and you wanna throw all we had away by hanging out with her all the time? what is she doing at your place again huh? she can't give you half of what I gave you, she's not even in your god damn league and-

Before she could finish her sentence he quickly released her arms from his waist and shoved her away from him causing her to stumble back a little. "Why did you get your sister to sleep with Ally's dad? I know you're the one who told her to do it. Do you realise that you completely fucked everything up for Ally and her family! how can you be so fucking selfish and stupid!" he snapped as she stared up at him shocked and lost for words.

"I...I don't give a damn, she took what was mine away from me so I-

"I'm not your fucking property Piper!" he snapped again cutting her of her sentence. "Why can't you understand that I don't want to be with you?, I don't love you and I never did. You completely messed me up and fucked with my head, you and that bitch you call you're sister. Leave me alone for the last time before I do something that I don't wanna do" he hissed turning around to walk over to his motorcycle as Piper's lips began to tremble rapidly. "That's the most words you've said to me in over a year and you use it to insult me?! I didn't do anything wrong okay, I told you that I'll do whatever it takes to get you back, I love you Austin and I know you still love me too blinded by this skank to even see that" she yelled after him with tears in her eyes.

Something inside me had finally snapped and before I knew it, anger began to quickly build up inside me. "I'm the skank? just who the fuck do you think you are?!" I snapped, causing her to slowly turn around to look back at me. "After everything that you've done how dare you stand there and call me a skank when you're the biggest one of them all! I'm surprised you didn't sleep with my father yourself-

"I was tempted to seeing how he's been stuck with you for a daughter and your crazy pathetic mom. I could've given him all the pleasure that he's been missing if my heart wasn't still with Austin" she muttered getting up in my face. Without hesitation, I rapidly lifted my hand up to slap her hard across the face and was about to charge up on her, till I felt my body being pulled back by Austin. He picked me up, holding onto my tiny waist from behind as he headed in the direction of his motorcycle whilst I kicked and screamed in his arms. "Let me go Austin, just let fucking let me go" I screamed louder trying to struggle. I was so blinded by my anger and exasperation that I didn't realise how I rapidly elbowed him in his chest.

"Fuck it! we're not going anywhere" he hissed irritatingly before turning back to walk towards his apartment building, ignoring a pissed off and irritated Piper who stood watching our every move. After a couple seconds, I finally found the strength from his grip, only for him to quickly grab me back by the arm and rapidly swing me over his shoulder to stop me from running back out to Piper. He headed up the stairs, holding onto me tightly and ignoring the few of his neighbours who shot us strange looks. As we arrived back at the top of the building, he quickly brought out his keys to unlock the door before pushing it open and stepping inside. "Can you just fucking calm down!" he snapped, finally placing me back down on the ground. "Even if she said something as fucked up as that couldn't you have ignored her?! you don't know the type of person that Piper is-

"I don't care about the type of person that she is!" I yelled throwing my arms up in the air. "And I'm not scared of her either. My family was already fucked up and she had to go and ruin it even more. Every night I have to listen to my mom cry herself to sleep. I wasn't particularly fond of my dad but she never cried when he was still around. Even though she knew that he was having an affair she still smiled everyday like nothing was going on. I just- I can't make her happy like he can, its never gonna happen, a-and I've come to accept that" I shouted before taking my back off and throwing it onto the sofa before looking back up at him. "If you're that scared she might me do something to me then why don't you go back to her since she obviously still wants you back, you let her hug you anyway like it was nothing" I hissed turning my back to walk away from him.

I heard him cuss vigorously under his breath before speaking up. "I don't want anything to do with her, she was in the past. You're the one that I made the promise to, I've never asked anybody to never let me go before not even my family. Look we need each other okay, I know what its like to live without my family, I'm not gonna lie to you and tell you that everything's gonna be okay with yours, because its not. You're old man left and he's never coming back, that's what he chose to do but that doesn't mean its your fault so stop thinking that bullshit" he spoke before slipping his hands into his pockets. I knew we were just friends at that time but the way we spoke to each other made me believe that there was obviously something more. I mean there I was getting jealous over seeing his ex hug him and cry his arms, and him trying to tell me that she meant nothing to him. It was simply a lover's quarrel, but we were too scared to ever admit it. Was this how it was always going to be, would we always ever be too scared to come to terms with something that we both knew was entirely true?.

I watched as he walked past me and over to take a seat down on the sofa before covering his face with his hand and sinking back into the sofa. I sighed quietly under my breath and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear before turning around to walk over to him. As I took a step in front of him, I reached down and grabbed both his arms before wrapping it around my tiny waist and slowly nestling into his legs. I cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at me before snaking my arms around his neck. "I...I'm sorry" I muttered staring down into his eyes. He stared back up into mine before getting up from the sofa and hugging me tightly. I couldn't help but sink into the feeling of being in his arms. It was magical, if only I could still remember the feeling and how much he made me feel by simply holding me and making sure to never let go.

* * *

 _~Hours later._

It was sometime around six in the evening and Austin and I were stood outside the Miami female prison.

After a lot of persuading, I had gotten him to go see his mom as it was her birthday. The last time that I saw her when I came with Trish to visit her aunt, she looked like she hadn't smiled for years, but that thought quickly went away as I remembered the way she smiled when Austin took a seat opposite her. It reminded of that same smile with Austin in the picture. I looked up at him as he gaped at the building unwillingly, before lowering his head down to look at the ground. I watched as the wind blew his hair to the side to slightly cover up his eyes.

"She suffered from mental health when I was little, my dad would often take her to therapist and mental institutes to get better as well as dealing with my brother who suffered from self rage and self harm" he began, leaning back on his motorcycle. "She got a little better and got a job working as a pre-school teacher, we were all proud of her, I remember the day she rushed home to tell us" he said, lifting his head to look up at the sky. He paused for a brief moment before speaking up again. "One day she came home really late when my dad and brother were asleep, I went downstairs and... and saw her burying a dead body in our garden. I was only nine years and she asked me to help her before my dad woke up. I asked what happened and she refused to tell me anything, a couple weeks later she got arrested and we found out she had murdered one of the moms of the children at her pre-school... she blamed it on her mental health and said it was an accident, that she didn't know what she was doing. My Dad lost custody of me and my brother a month later and I took of from there" he explained leaving me utterly lost for words.

I stared up at him as he held a distraught look on his face, almost as if he was remembering it all. When I was nine years old, I couldn't imagine how I would've coped on my own, but that wasn't a problem for Austin as he truly wasn't scared of anything. He was so brave to go through all of that at such a young age, and still continue living life like it hadn't kicked him down all his life. His strength and courage was truly one of the things I loved about him, it was what drew my attraction to him even more.

10-15 minutes later, we were sited at the prison waiting room waiting for his mom to arrive. Knowing how extremely nervous and uncomfortable he felt, I inter-wined our hands together from under the table and held onto it tightly and comfortingly. As we sat waiting, each passing minute felt like forever, and I could tell that he really didn't want to be there. After a while, my eyes narrowed over to the door to see his mom in handcuffs, walking in alongside a police officer, who stood near the door as she slowly made her way over to us with a huge smile plastered on her face. As she took a seat across from us, I noticed Austin quickly let go of my hand and shift his eyes away, almost as if he was holding a lot of things back from looking at her. That gloomy and morose expression that I had witnessed on his face when I had first met him had started to appear yet again, and I began to think that this persuading him to come see her wasn't such a good idea. My only excuse was that she was his mother and it was her birthday, but I had no clue of the traumatic relationship they shared and the devastating memories he had of her until then.

"This is a nice surprise, I didn't think you were gonna come today or remember my birthday" she chuckled, gazing at him, almost as if he was the treasure that's been missing all her life. As he carried on staring over at the wall, refusing to glance at her, she turned her attention to me. "Uhm, I'm Ally, nice to meet you, Mrs Moon" I said flashing her a small smile. She nodded her head at me and smiled back before looking back at Austin. "Are you my son's girlfriend, you're the first person that Austin's ever took to come see me?" she asked eagerly. I looked up at Austin as he placed both hands on the table not saying anything, and I quickly shot her an anxious smile, not knowing how to properly answer her question.

Silence filled the room for a brief moment as the tension between Austin and his mother began to grow by the second. "H-How's school going? did you go in today?... have you decided if you want to go to college or not?... how have you been coping recently, w-what about Aaron, have you visited his grave recently?" she asked bombarding him with different questions. "Austin, please talk to me... I already lost your father and your brother, you're all I have left... I know we haven't been together for 10 years but you're all I have left, I regret what I did everyday because I can't be with you whenever I want to, I can't be with you whenever you need me the most and I wish I hadn't done what I did, I love you so much Austin, I know I haven't told you that in a long time but I do" she exclaimed placing her hand over his as he slowly narrowed his eyes to look at her.

"Austin, I'll just wait outside" I smiled realising that they needed their privacy to talks things through. "It was nice meeting you Mrs Moon" I said politely before getting up from the seat beside Austin and turning to walk towards the door. I turned my head back to see Austin with his head down on the table as his mother ran her fingers through his hair with tears flowing down his cheek. I watched as he brought her hand closer to his and kissed it before placing his head back on the table as she continued to stroke his hair gently, almost like a mother who was putting her toddler son to sleep. Even though she had committed the worse crime possible, she was still his mother, and he would still continue to love her even if she's locked away from him forever and never to be released.

 _~A while later._

I stood outside leaning on Austin's motorcycle and clutching onto my jacket whilst gazing up at the sunset going down. It was such a beautiful evening that I would never forget. Since Austin had been inside an awfully long time, it lead me to wander what was happening between him and his mother. Austin still wasn't a very talkative person as he only spoke to me and a couple people only when he needed to. I knew that he would never tell her the important things like his job or the fact that he's been arrested before as he wouldn't want her to worry or panic, and I knew that he would never properly release all of his thoughts and emotions to her, even if she was indeed his mother.

I took a bite out of the chocolate bar I had bought at the supermarket across the street, before looking ahead to see Austin heading over in my direction, causing my face to quickly light up. His face was calm and tranquilled, leaving me to believe that things had gone well. As he got closer and closer, I pulled out the bag of his favourite chips and waved it in the air, and to my surprise he chuckled lightly, whilst lowering his head to hide the blush that spread across his cheek. It was the first time I saw him come close to a laugh and I couldn't be more happier and relieved. "What happened?" I asked gazing up at him as he grabbed hold of his helmet. He gazed down at me and bored into my eyes before slowly shifting his eyes away.

"I'll tell you later, if I don't you're gonna keep asking me anyway" he smiled placing the helmet over my head, causing me to playfully throw a punch at his arm. "Lets just go home its gonna get dark soon... I-I mean my apartment its not your home, or I can take you back to your house if you want... shit" he cussed the last bit, causing me to blush deeply. He had called his apartment our home and I knew that I shouldn't have gotten excited about it too much, but I just couldn't help myself. I'm glad that I was wearing the helmet to cover up the fact that I was blushing frantically. If he had saw my face all red my feelings really would've been given away without a doubt.

As my eyes locked with his moments later, I felt like I was being spelled by his look yet again. As he inched closer to me, I slowly took of the helmet from my head and placed it to the side as ignition started to quickly build around us and it was almost impossible to ignore it. As he took a step closer to me once again, his eyes looked as if they were fighting a decision that he couldn't bring himself to comprehend, but I could tell that one easily overpowered the other. My heart fluttered as I noticed his eyes slowly trail down to my lips, and before I knew it, he quickly moved in closing the sharp and unbearable tension between us. Our hesitant lips grew more comfortable once we realised the other wouldn't pull away. I didn't even know what had come over to make me want him more and more right there, but I also didn't regret it wither. His lips were warm and smooth as they brushed against my own, giving me a feeling of satisfaction that I didn't think was possible. I had kissed a couple guys before, but none of them could come close to Austin. He knew exactly what was doing, and he knew how to make me give into him more and more.

As the kiss grow more heated by the second, he grabbed hold of waist and lifted me up before placing me on top of his motorcycle. He slowly nestled his hips in-between my legs as he carried on kissing me, not caring about the people who walked past us. As blood rushed to my head, making me feel light and fuzzy, he slowly pulled away almost as if he felt that he was completely devouring me and not allowing me to catch a breath, but I quickly ran my fingertips through his hair and pulled him back in. Our lips moved together, and our hands moved over each other's bodies, almost grinding upon one another. I felt him glide his tongue against her lower lip and I non-hesitantly opened my mouth to let him in.

All the attraction that had been building up ever since we started to spend time together was thrown into the kiss, and it was somehow more than I imagined it to be.

* * *

 _ **Looks like they couldn't stop themselves any longer. If you enjoyed reading this chapter like I enjoyed writing it. Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

It had all happened so fast that I found it difficult to wrap my head around things. I didn't want to lose what we had but I couldn't help but think that I had somehow made a mistake in kissing him. We were fine how we were. I was comfortable having feelings for him without him knowing and being around him whenever I wanted without any awkwardness. I didn't want to lose him, but I was scared and a little overwhelmed with the change that was bound to happen between us. I never knew how one kiss can simply change everything.

It was a windy and dull morning in the middle of March, I remembered it clearly. My mom and I were sited at the dining table in the kitchen in nothing but total and tensed silence. The only thing you could hear was the sound of the clock ticking and the dripping sound of water in the kitchen sink.

I held onto my coffee cup as I watched her stare down at the plate of breakfast I had made for her earlier on. She slowly lifted her head back up to look at me before picking up her pack of cigarettes and lighter from the table. It was as if she made no attempt to smile. I would've been perfectly fine seeing her force a smile onto her face, I would've been okay seeing her at least pretend she was coping well, but all I got was nothing. I thought that I would be able to look after her and make her happy after my father had abandoned us, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. You see my mother was the type of woman to need one thing in life and one thing only, and that wasn't me as hard as it was to admit. Of course she was the woman who gave birth to me and I would forever be grateful to her for that, but as time passed that didn't seem to matter any longer. There was a long strain that was slowly building with the both of us and I was sure that one day it would all explode into thin air.

Placing my cup of coffee down, I watched closely as her fingers trembled whilst lighting the cigarette and I couldn't help but sigh to myself. I turned my head to look around the kitchen wandering how I had ended up in this unfix-able mess. We had only been in Miami for two months then and it made me wander if all this would've happened if we had just stayed in Washington. But then again, if we did I wouldn't have met Trish and Dez, and I certainly wouldn't have met Austin. It hurt to think about him because all I could think about was what we had possibly coming to an end. I couldn't face him after that kiss, I couldn't speak to him or answer any of his calls or texts. I was nothing but a coward I know, but how could I possibly come face to face with the guy I was so sure I was slowly falling in love with. Falling in love with someone was always my greatest worry in life because I feared it would end up just like my parents. My mother had first fallen in love at the age I was then and ended up having a tragic fate with my father. My idea of love had been negative for all my life, and I just didn't know how to give into it, I wasn't sure if I was ready to either.

"Aren't you gonna eat anything?" I questioned finally breaking the intense silence in the room. As she briefly ignored me by blowing her cigarette smoke into the air, I tried my hardest to keep my composure. It seemed as if that's all I ever did in those situations with her. "Mom... mom can you talk to me, please-

"I'm not hungry... if I'm not hungry you shouldn't force me to eat" she muttered quickly cutting me off my sentence.

I stared across from her for a brief while as a painful scowl began to slowly grow on my face. I was fed up, but I had nothing to be fed up with just yet. I quickly tied my hair back into a ponytail and got up from my seat before walking over to her. I pushed the plate of food closer to her, hoping that she might respond but still nothing. "For god's sake can you just eat something" I hissed, losing my patience. "You haven't eating properly for a week and the Doctor said if you carry on like this, you might develop a sickness" I stated placing my hand down on the table as she remained silent not uttering a word. "Don't you care about how I would feel if something happens to you?... god your so fucking selfish" I muttered under my breath before turning around to walk back to my seat.

"Don't use that language on me, I am your mother-

"Then start acting like it!" I groaned, turning back around to place my hand on my hips.

She flinched at the sound of my voice before going back to blowing onto her cigarette as I watched frustratingly before speaking up. "Don't you understand if you don't eat something, something bad might really happen. Its not my job to look after you, its your job to look after me but here we are-

"I said that I'm not hungry!" she yelled and before I knew it she had quickly threw the plate of breakfast on the floor causing the glass to shatter into the pieces. The long silence that came after that was enough for me to believe there wasn't a single sound in the world. The horrifying and panicked look on her face as she spotted the disappointed look on my face was almost enough to drive her more insane. I didn't react to the fact that the shattered plate was scattered all around my feet, instead I stood completely still and watched as she placed her hand on her head and rushed out the kitchen, leaving me to regret what I had been trying hard not to. It was her fault that our mornings started of so vigorously, it was her fault that I hardly ever went to school or hung out with Trish and Dez, but despise all that, I still wanted to look after her.

I let out a deep sigh before bending down to pick up the shattered pieces of glass that laid on the floor. Growing up my grandmother always reminded me that we needed to look after my mother at all times. As a child it confused me as to why I would have to look after my own mother someday, but then it made so much sense as to why. As I slowly picked up the pieces of the broken plate, I could almost see Austin's face in the mere reflection.

Several minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring a couple times, and I quickly stood up and rushed out the kitchen. I slowly opened the door and peered outside to see that it was Trish and Dez. I forced a smile up at them and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ears before speaking. "Hey guys... listen um when you come over and ring the doorbell can you only do it once, my mom's uh... my mom's really paranoid" I chuckled, turning around to look inside the house before turning my head back at them as they held puzzled and bewildered expressions on their faces.

"Ally, is everything okay? you didn't come to school this week and you didn't call or pick up your phone either. Dez and I have been really worried about you" Trish spoke up whilst searching into my eyes. I looked back at her before clearing my throat and sighing to myself. "Guys, I'm fine, but uh... lets go to your car to talk" I said pointing over to Trish's car before quickly grabbing my jacket from inside and shutting the door after me. As we headed over to the car, Dez wrapped his arm around me and placed a reassuring kiss on top of my head, causing me to grin widely. It was such a small gesture, but it made me feel so happy and comforted with everything that was happening in my life right then.

"I promise you guys that I'm fine, my boss just gave me more shifts and I've just been a little tired because of it which is why I missed three days, so there's nothing to worry about" I explained as we all stepped inside the car. "You know that you can tell us if anything's wrong Ally, we're basically family and we love you" Dez spoke and I quickly turned my head to look at him from the back seat. "I know..." I smiled whilst holding onto his hand. I turned my head back around to see Trish gazing over at Dallas's house which was across the street for several seconds before turning around to face me. She studied my face for a brief while almost as if she was desperately trying to figure something out. Trish was a smart person and could easily read me like a book even if I had no expression on her face. I wonder if she could notice how much frustration I was going threw at that very moment and how much I wanted to tell them everything but couldn't at the same time. She shot me a genuine smile before placing her hand on my lap and I smiled back before placing the side of my head on the car window, listening to the sound of the strong winds from outside.

"So..." I began whilst tapping the side of the passengers seat. "D-Did Austin come to school this week?" I asked looking back at Trish as she shot me a confused look.

"Well, he came on Monday but didn't show up for the rest of the week" she explained whilst rolling down the car window. "Since you were both absent, we thought that you two were together... are you saying that you haven't seen him all week?" she questioned raising an eyebrow up at me. "Did something happen between you two?" she asked bombarding me with questions as I bit my lip not knowing what to say.

I placed my hand on my forehead and leaned further back in the passengers seat as I began to think back to our kiss outside the police station. I couldn't stop thinking of the feeling when our eyes met just before it happened. We both looked at each other as if we knew that this was eventually going to happen and that there was no turning back no matter what. I would never forget the feeling of pure ecstasy when he cupped my face with his large hands and pressed his lips onto mine in the heated moment. It had all happened so quickly that it almost felt like a blur. He kissed me almost as if he had been waiting to do it for a while. It started of slow and very passionate but once we finally comprehended what was happening between us, we lost all control of our bodies and emotions and ended up exploring one another in the most heated and spirited way possible. It was simply electrifying, even thinking about it now gives me goosebumps. The hardest part of it all was when we finally pulled away from each other and had to look back into each other's eyes, wandering how we had let ourselves get so carried away with each other, especially in a public place. It was after I felt the feeling of his touch leave my skin, that I began to fear for the worse. Millions of thoughts flew through my head at that very moment with one of them being how I had possibly lost him forever.

"We... we kissed" I muttered causing the both of them to gasp in shock. "And it was amazing but I had to come to my senses. I like him, yes, I like him a lot, but he doesn't want a relationship. He's been threw a lot of things in life and the last thing he wants is commitment and to be tied down by someone again. I don't know how I'm gonna face him because I don't know what to say, I-

"How do you know what he wants, did he tell you that?" she asked leaving me a little speechless and lost for words. "Look Ally, you just lost your Dad for good and we all know your mom's crazy in the head, c'mon its pretty obvious you didn't have to tell us, do you really want to lose Austin too because you're afraid to tell him what you really want from him. You two have spent so much time together its crazy, what's even more crazy is that it took you guys this long to kiss" she groaned arching a brow up at me. "I've seen the way Austin looks at you, how could you not notice that he's basically like in love with you, you're the only person he speaks to and is comfortable with. I don't think you wanna fuck this up even more Ally, you should go talk to him" she said rubbing my shoulders gently.

"Y-You think he's in love with me?... shit" I murmured before covering my face up with my hands.

"I know you told us that you didn't wanna love somebody one day but you have to be blind if you can't see that Austin adores you, he basically worships the ground you walk on, he's in love with you Ally and I know you are too of him" she sighed before turning her head to face the street. "I know love fucking sucks, that shit is difficult and it fucks with your head sometimes and makes you question your values..." she trailed off before turning to look back at Dallas's house. "But do you easily wanna throw it away just because of a little doubt?... I'm not saying that you and Austin's relationship is going to be all sunshine's and rainbows, no ones is, but why not give it a try you know..." she said before turning back to look at me. "Beside if you hadn't became friends with Austin, I wouldn't have met Trent so that's one thing that I thank him for".

I lowered my head for a short while as I thought about everything she said. Even though I was very afraid, I knew that I couldn't lose him no matter what. I was about to speak up till I spotted a car pulling up beside us and I quickly realised that it was Dallas's. I watched as he rolled down his windows before taking of his sunglasses and throwing it on the passengers seat. "Hey, Trishy-bear" he winked pushing his door open and stepping out of it as Dez and I looked at each other in confusion. "Cassidy kinda bailed on me today, so what do you say wanna come over?" he smirked placing his hand on top of the car roof and leaning down closer to her face. I looked over at Trish as she sat frozen whilst gripping onto the steering wheel tightly. The light in her eyes had quickly gone dark and that's when I knew that I had to do something about it.

"For god's sake just fuck off Dallas, just because you've fucked every girl in school doesn't mean you can use Trish again you pig-

"Shut the fuck up Ally! you had your damn shot with me and you chose that loser instead, so try not to get jealous" he winked before turning his attention back to Trish, who looked further ahead refusing to look at him.

I scoffed to myself before looking back at Dez as he stared at Trish worriedly before taking a deep breath and speaking up. "J-Just leave her alone... please" he murmured timidly. It was the first time that he had ever stood up to anybody. "What the fuck did you just say to me?" Dallas questioned raising his voice at him as Dez rapidly hung his head low refusing to utter another word. "That's what I thought" he scoffed. "So what do you say Trish, I know you miss me, baby" he laughed puckering his lips before leaning down to grasp her chin forcing her to look up at him.

I watched as she gazed up into his eyes as a smirk slowly crept up on the corner of his mouth. As I was about to speak up again, she slowly pushed the door open leaving me a little shocked. "That's my girl, I knew you won't disappoint" he said placing his hand on the side of the door and offering his hand out to her. "Its a shame that Cassidy bailed on you" Trish muttered quietly and before I knew it, she rapidly slammed the door shut on his fingers causing him to scream and cuss loudly. "You fucking bitch!" he shouted loudly as he peered down at his hands which had began to bleed. "What a fucking joke!" Trish scoffed to herself before quickly starting the car and driving off as Dez and I looked back at each other before bursting into laughter.

"God Trish you never fail to fucking surprise me" I laughed, wiping away a fake tear.

"I wish I hadn't lost my virginity to him... I have to keep him a secret from Trent because if he finds out he'll kill him" she chuckled turning back to smile at Dez before speeding down the street.

* * *

A couple hours later, we arrived in front of the illegal underground fight club.

"He wasn't at his apartment, are you sure he's here?" Dez asked looking over at me. I gaped out the window at where his motorcycle was parked outside before sighing to myself. I could feel my heart racing each seconds and my forehead begin to sweat from the pure adrenaline I felt inside. I wasn't ready to talk to him, I didn't know what to say, but I knew if I kept this going on for too long it would be too late and things could really be over between us. I wasn't sure if he felt that way about me like Trish had said, I mean how could he love me when I found it difficult to even love myself, what could he possibly see in me?. Even if he decided that he didn't want anything to do with me anymore I deserved it due to how I had treated him this past week. I made a huge promise, promising to never let him go, and without realising it, I was slowly breaking it each day.

"Trent told me about this place before but he's never really taken me here" Trish uttered turning of her engine. I looked back out the window and took a deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping out. "I'll be back soon, I'm just gonna go in and talk to him" I smiled shutting the door before turning around to walk towards the building.

Each step I took felt like I was slowly approaching disaster. All I could see before my very eyes was him, all I could hear was the sound of his voice, all I could feel was the taste of his sweet, soft lips on mine. I wasn't sure what to do. As I stepped inside the building all eyes immediately went up to look at me. I looked around to see if I could spot him anywhere and when I couldn't I figured that he was probably at back. Taking one last deep breath, I dragged my feet on the ground towards the back door as the people in the room continued to focus their attention on me. Even though I wasn't paying attention to them, I could hear their whispers and feel their heavy and sharp gazes towards me. It was almost unbearable. As I arrived near the back, I proceeded to knock on the door, but stopped as I noticed it was already slightly open. I slowly and carefully pushed the door open a little before peering inside to see Trent sitting near the far back as he watched Austin continuously throw punches at a punching bag.

I couldn't take my eyes of him. He was covered in sweat and was breathing heavily but he still refused to stop. It was almost as if he was taking all of his aggression out on the punching bag, and I knew that it was my fault and my fault only. After a while, he finally stopped to hang his head low before picking up a bottle of water and pouring it down his head as Trent continued to watch on. The few minutes that they stayed in silence almost felt like an eternity.

"How's Ally? Trish told me that you both missed school this week, what's been happening with y'all man?" Trent asked eagerly as Austin briefly ignored him whilst taking a seat on a chair far across from him."Look man I'm sorry alright, how many times are you gonna make me say it, its been weeks" he groaned a little irritatingly. "I know that I fucked up, I almost ruined our friendship again and I'm sorry, but would you just talk to me man, look if there's anything you want me to do then-

"I already forget about it all... I just needed some space to think" Austin muttered quickly cutting him off. "So does this mean I'm forgiven?" Trent asked flashing a smile over at him as Austin rolled his eyes away causing him to chuckle lightly. For a second, I noticed a smile slowly creep up on his lips but it all faded away before I could have any time to process it.

I hid behind the door and continued to watch on as Austin sunk back into his seat whilst pushing his head back to look up at the ceiling. The morose look on his face was almost unbearable to look at as I knew I was the reason behind it. I remembered when I would use to make him smile at least once a day, twice if I was lucky. It made me happy because nobody got to see his smile but me, I promised myself to always make him smile and nothing else but that didn't seem to be the case right then. I was about to push open the door further and walk in till I heard him speak up again causing me to stop dead in my tracks. "I kissed her..." he muttered causing my heart beat to rapidly quicken.

"Wait, what?" Trent asked getting up from his seat to walk over to him. "You look pretty pissed considering you just told me you kissed the girl of your dreams... what happened man?" he asked taking a seat beside him as Austin leaned up in his seat before hanging his head low to look down at the ground.

"She's not talking to me" he said bluntly causing my heart to ache even more. "I fucked up, I shouldn't have kissed her... I just thought that it was the right thing to do at that moment" he sighed before running his hands down his face. "I'm not gonna sit here and fucking lie to you even more that I don't love her, because I do... but she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore... I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later, I knew that I was gonna lose her someday, its better sooner than later, right...?" he scoffed before getting up to put on his vest and his hat. "Wait you're giving up?" Trent questioned arching his brow up at him. "You can't fucking quit man, when are you ever gonna find a girl like Ally ever again, why don't you just keep trying to talk to her some more and-

"Don't you fucking get it, its over, she doesn't want anything to fucking do with me anymore!" he hissed quickly cutting him off his sentence as I watched on gripping onto the door handle tightly. The pain and anger in his voice was enough for me to automatically spiral out of control.

"Hey, what are you doing? yo Trent is she allowed to be back here?" I heard a voice say and I quickly snapped my head back to see a member of the club peering down at me with his arms crossed above his chest. I stared back up at him a little overwhelmingly before slowly turning my head back to see Austin and Trent staring at me from inside the room. The expression on Austin's face was unreadable as he stared at me blankly, almost as if he wasn't shocked that I had been listening in on their conversation. After a short while, he turned around to grab his motorcycle keys of the table before storming out the room, making sure to walk past me along the way. I watched in distress as he sped up his walk with each step he took and I knew that he wanted nothing more than to get away from me. I couldn't blame him when all of this was my fault, but seeing him walk away like that made me die a little inside. I wasn't sure how long I could handle it.

As I finally snapped out of my senses, I picked up my feet which was frozen on the ground before going to run after him. "Austin!" I called over and over, but it was no use. No matter how many times I called his name he didn't stop to reply, neither did he turn back to face me. I wasn't sure how much more of it I could take. "Austin please wait , I'm sorry, please... please just hear me out" I pleaded trying to catch up after him as he walked out the before making his way over to his motorcycle. "I know that I screwed up but please let me explain, I... I didn't know what to do, it was all just so confusing and overwhelming and I'm sorry, please let me fix this" I exclaimed as I felt tears begin to sprinkle into my eyes. He paused for a brief moment, at first I thought that he was going to turn back around, but when he carried on walking I couldn't help but feel more and more guilty. Realising that I would never get him to stop, I froze in my tracks as I watched him quickly get on his motorcycle and drive away whilst desperately trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall from my eyes.

The wind was as strong as ever, it almost felt like I couldn't hold it back any longer. It was all my fault, it really was. Even though street sounds echoed in the background, all I could seem to hear was the sound of Austin's motorcycle driving away. A couple seconds later, I turned back to see Trish and Dez stepping out of the car to look at me worriedly at what they had just witnessed. I stared back over at them still frozen to the ground till my eyes narrowed to Trent who rushed out the building to look around the place. Noticing that Austin wasn't around, he lowered his head and sighed before walking over to me as Trish and Dez followed from behind.

"You okay?" he asked wrapping his arm around Trish who leaned in into his chest.

I slowly nodded my head before turning to look back at where he had drove off. "Do you know where he's going?... I know he's not going back to his apartment because he doesn't like to be there alone at this time" I muttered whilst joining my hands together as my lips trembled rapidly. Trent gaped down at Trish before removing his arm from her and going to pull me into a comforting hug. "He said something about going to visit his brother's grave today, I can come with you if you want" he muttered, pulling away to push my hair back.

"Its okay, I need to do this on my own" I said briefly. I smiled up at him then at Trish and Dez before turning around to walk away. As I walked further on I felt a tear slowly roll down my eye and I couldn't be more glad that they didn't see even though they knew that I was at my limit. This was why I never wanted to fall in love in the first place, it came with so many feelings and emotions that I didn't know how to handle and deal with, but now that I had fallen in love, I was prepared to deal with all the struggles, pain and emotional trauma that came with it.

 _~A while later._

As I walked further towards the cemetery, the sun began to slowly peak from the sky, shining a light on my mood. It was so bright and warm, yet it was slightly covered by the grey clouds that threatened to make it disappear.

I zipped up my jacket and placed my hand inside my pockets before looking over to see Austin sitting down on the green grass, in front of a grave stone which I assumed to be his brother's. Seeing as we were the only two people there, I slowly closed the gate of the cemetery before strolling over to him. As I approached him, I decided to stop dead in my tracks as I realised he needed to be alone right then at that moment with his brother. I wanted to give him the space that he needed and feel at peace with him once again even if we couldn't work things out. Smiling a small smile over at him, I sat down on the grass behind him as I remained in deep silence. He didn't have to turn around to know that I was there, because I could almost sense him start to relax a little knowing that I was there with him. He didn't have to acknowledge my presence to know that I would always be there for him.

I wasn't sure how long we sat there in total silence, it almost felt like an eternity but I certainly wasn't complaining. We didn't have to speak to each other to fill some sort of void between us, we just had to be around each other to feel the pure ecstasy of our hearts race. Even if he had stayed at the cemetery till morning, I would've stayed with him. It was the first time that we had spent with each other in a week and I wanted to make it up to him, I wanted to show him that I was sorry, and since I found it hard to tell him, it was better to show him. Even though we weren't looking or speaking to each other, I wanted us to feel connected, more connected that we had ever felt with each other. As the wind blew further in our direction, I laid my head down on the grass as I slowly drifted of to sleep. It wasn't what we planned to happen, yet it was all we ever wanted.

After a long while, I felt myself being scooped up from the ground and I slowly fluttered my eyes open to see Austin carrying me bridal style and slowly walking towards the entrance gate. I gazed up at him a little shocked before looking up at the sky to see the sun going down which made me wander just how long I was asleep for.

I looked back up at Austin as he held onto me tightly whilst looking straight ahead and I found myself getting teary-eyed yet again. "Austin..." I mumbled quietly and he stopped to glance down at me. His expression was soft, yet you could tell that there were a lot of things in his mind. I reached up to grab his cheek before speaking up. "I-I'm so sorry, for not calling back and pushing you away... I know you needed me more than anything, but right now, I need you just as much" I stated with my voice breaking on every word. "Things have been tough with my mom at home, I can't take care of her and it makes me feel useless, like I can't do anything and I would never be able to keep the promise I made with you... I-I just wanna be with you always, you're my everything and I mean that, I never wanna let you go again... I'm so sorry" I whispered the last bit whilst running my hand down his face as my eyes began to water.

He lowered his head almost as if he was in deep thought about something before lifting it back up to look at me. The eye contact that we held afterwards was so strong, stronger and more intense than we ever had. There was really no going back after that.

"Austin... take me back to your apartment, please" I whispered glancing down at his lips. He stared into his eyes almost to make sure if this was what I really wanted before securing his firm grip around me and walking off. We were in too deep and we both wanted more, knowing that there was really no going back after all.

* * *

 ** _Sorry it took me so long to update this, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, also hope you paid attention because this is one of the most important chapters in the story. Next chapter is going to be very steamy and passionate so don't forget to leave a review._**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

 _ **Warning: this chapter contains some sexual content. If you don't like reading this sort of thing then feel free to click off, if you do however, enjoy!**_

* * *

His inner soul was infiltrated with a warmth that made me feel alive. His touch was sufficient enough to give me butterflies each and every time. With everything happening in my life at that time, he always made me feel so safe, secure and loved.

As he led me up the stairs still carrying me bridal style, I could hear the sound of his heart beating, and we both knew exactly what was to come. He looked straight ahead almost forcing himself to not look down at me. He loved me, he admitted it, and I just couldn't understand why. After ignoring him and pushing him away he still held onto our promise. He had loved me all this time and I was too blind to notice. Austin was a very quiet and discreet person who kept his emotions and thoughts hidden deep down so I wouldn't know what he was thinking, it frustrated me a lot of the time but I could understand why he was so closed off. I knew deep down he didn't think that he deserved me, but truth is, I didn't deserve him. I was a mess, I had problems of my own which heavily burdened his life, I hid who I really was deep down because I was truly afraid of what other people would think, I was extremely insecure, and I was incapable of first telling him how I felt towards him when I knew that was what he needed to hear. How could he possibly had loved someone like me when I wasn't even sure of myself?.

As we arrived at his front door, he brought out his keys to unlock the door. He looked down the hallway to check if anyone was watching before slowly pushing the door open and stepping inside before shutting the door behind him.

It was no secret that I had been to his apartment many times, but that time it was different, probably because of what had happened earlier that day. I had asked him to take me back there, but truth is that I was a completely nervous wreck and was feeling so many emotions being held in his arms. After being apart from him for a week, all I truly wanted right then was to be alone with him for as long as possible. I wanted to make it up to him and show him that I was sorry for everything, I wanted him to know that I deeply cared for him and that I felt the same way about him as he did for him, even if it meant being intimate with him in different ways.

Moments later, he placed me back down on my feet and I slowly pressed my back against the door as we gazed each other. He looked into my eyes deeply and passionately. There was not a fragment of falsity in those brown eyes, but rather, they held my dreams of the possible future we could've had together. How so little could reveal so much, I wasn't certain. Looking back into his eyes was almost looking into the depths of the ocean, lost and calm at the same time. We were fine just being like this even for a brief while.

After a short while, Austin sighed to himself and ran his hands down his face before turning his back to me. He threw his head back as he walked over to sit on the stool beside his window. I watched as he gaped down the window, and I could tell that he was still very much annoyed with me, he had every right to be after how I treated him. I had almost broken his heart without realising and that's something that killed me to think about. I joined my fingers together a little anxiously as I slowly walked over to him with my heart beating rapidly along the way. "I'm really sorry, I never meant to hurt you" I sighed taking a step closer to him. "I had doubts, I thought that after we kissed things would change between us, I've already dealt with a lot of changes this year. W-What I'm trying to say is that... I love you too" as the words hesitantly slipped out of my mouth, he quickly shot his head up to look at me. He was shocked, more shocked than I had ever seen him look. He couldn't believe what I had said, I couldn't believe it too, but I didn't regret it one little bit. Even though I wasn't great at talking about how I feel, I still wanted to tell him, to let him know that he wasn't the only one who had fallen in love.

He gaped down the window once again before grabbing my hand and pulling me down to sit on his lap. He wrapped his strong arms around my tiny waist and I smiled down at him before leaning closer to him. As I slowly pressed my lips onto his, I felt a burst of emotion forth fling from every inch of myself, overtaking my very person. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I felt more secure and safe than I had in longer than I could remember. It was as though in his arms nothing could hurt me; nothing. His lips seemed to cascade over mine in a glorious feeling, emotion and I felt his mind meet mine, and suddenly I could hear him; his thoughts and emotions.

As our lips began to move faster with one another, he grabbed my leg and wrapped it around his waist so I was now straddling him. A strong surge of electricity commenced and loosened the tightness of her muscles, and the little doubt that still lingered in my head was suddenly consumed in an instant. His soft lips against mine was simply like magic. After a while, his lips slowly left mine and I groaned under my breath, wanting more. He smiled, a small trickle of laughter leaving his lips as he slowly bent toward me, his lips grazing mine ever so softly. It was as if he was testing my boundary line. My hand instinctively met the side of his cheek, urging his lips harder against mine. It was as if every ounce and fibre of me wanted his lips on mine, to feel his hands as they traced the contour of my body. I pulled away every so slightly to breathe, trying not to show just how vulnerable I seemed to be. My gaze moved from his eyes to his lips and once more his soft lips were against mine, one hand slowly but surely tangling into my hair. Each intake of breath was another reminder of what was really happening, his cologne, the way his hands in-tangled in my hair, pressing my lips against his with a more urgent pace.

After a while, he slowly moved down to my neck. I shivered at the way his lips traced along my collar bone giving me a sensational feeling inside. It was almost as if he was taking his time learning my weak and vulnerable spots and finding what turned me on. Not being able to take it anymore, I quickly lifted his face up and moved his lips back onto mine. Now it was my turn to move down to his neck. I slowly pulled away from the kiss and helped take his shirt off before tracing down along his jaw and going to suck on his neck I heard him cuss and groan under his breath, which caused a smirk to quickly spread across my lips. "You're loving this aren't you" he said as he helped me take of my shirt before slowly moving his hands up my bare back to un-clip. I moaned a small moan as my bra slipped of my shoulders. He glanced down at my breast then back up into my eyes before getting up from the stool and heading in the direction of his bedroom whilst holding me in his arms.

As he shut his bedroom door and walked over to his bed, I started to feel more and more nervous. He flopped me down on the bed, and went to kiss me again but stopped as he noticed the look in my eye. "Is everything alright?" he asked briefly.

I breathed out a deep sigh before pushing myself up the bed and speaking up. "Nothing, its just... I've never done this before" I muttered biting onto my bottom lip. It was true that I hadn't given my virginity up before, I had come close to a couple times, but I end up regretting it before I could go ahead with it. As I stared up into his eyes, I didn't feel a single ounce of regret and doubt in my mind and I knew exactly what I wanted from him. Kissing him wasn't just enough from me, I wanted more. I had become so attached and vulnerable that I needed to feel him closer to me, to share the same energy with him and to dive into a heated moment I knew I wouldn't regret. He looked back into my eyes, almost searching for some sort of discomfort or worry, but when he didn't find it, he let out a deep sigh before running his fingers through his hair. "I can't take your virginity, Ally" he mumbled quietly before slightly shifting away from me.

Whenever he said stuff like that, it almost made me uncertain as to why he thought he didn't deserve me when it was me who didn't deserve him. I got up from the bed and sat on his lap before cupping his cheeks, forcing him to look at me. There's a moment's hesitation where he struggled against himself, fighting the passion spiralling out of control within, the want. "I don't want you to feel like all I want from you is sex, because its not. I can't take your virginity because your first time should be with somebody who's worthy and we both know that ain't me-

"Stop" I said placing my finger between his lips before he could say another word. "Stop talking down on yourself Austin... you don't have to hold back because I haven't done this before, its fine" I whispered whilst gazing down into his eyes.

He looked back into my eyes, almost as if he was contemplating something for a little while. His thoughts immediately vanished as I wrapped my arms back around his neck, and before I knew it he quickly flipped me over and placed me down onto the bed so he was towering me. He looked back down into my eyes and smiled a rarest of smile before leaning down and closing the gap between us. Whenever he kissed me it always felt like I was coming home. He tasted like the sweetest thing I could ever imagine, and felt like heaven, happiness and hope. I liked to kiss him slowly, to drink him all in and breathe against his mouth and smile whenever he moans. There's been days at his apartment when we'd spend hours just kissing each other, wrapping our arms around each other and exploring each other's bodies, and as we laid on his bed with the soft spring evening breeze blowing in from his bedroom window, cooling against our heated skin, I realised just how much I loved him.

Moments later, he pulled away from the kiss, and I moaned as his lips trailed down from my collar bone all the way down to my breast. He sucked onto my nipples whilst holding and I gripped onto his hair tightly trying not to scream at the sensation he was giving me. I shut my eyes whilst biting onto my lip, as he moved further down. He helped take of my jean shorts, and when I was left with nothing but my underwear he just stopped and stared, drinking in the sight of me, like I was an important statue in a museum, like I was the treasure he had been missing all his life, like I was simply the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. For a brief moment I could tell what he was thinking, which was that he didn't deserve me, I could've had anyone else but I chose him instead. If only he realised just how much I longed for him and how much I cherished him more.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked as he continued to look me up and down, gawking at what he saw.

"I'm sure" I responded, blushing at how nervous his look made me feel. I wrapped my arms around him and straddles his lap, and he leans back to soak in the feel of my body and the warmth of my skin. For a long he's content to just kiss me, touch me, get acquainted with how I breathe and sigh into his mouth and across his skin.

I pushed a bit of hair from his face and dragged my thumb over his bottom lip. To my surprise, he sucks it into his mouth and bites down gently causing me to giggle. When I grinned, he slipped more of my fingers in and laves them with his tongue, almost as if he was giving me a small hint of what he had in store for me. As my breathing lifts a little, he quickly slips off my underwear and tosses them aside, then slowly slides his fingers down to stroke my warmth. I gasp and arched into his hand, buckling my hips into it when he circles around my clit slowly. "Ohhh god" I moaned, and he complied, watching my face as I laid back and closes my eyes. He slipped one finger down further and teases my entrance, but I quickly jerked back causing his hand to pull away.

"God, I've been wanting to do this for a while" he whispered and I quickly opened my eyes and looked back down to see him slowly making his way down.

I stifled in a moan as he kissed the inside of my thighs, slow open mouth wet kisses that have been purring with need by the time he dares to taste me. My hips instantly bucked of the bed and I let out a sharp cry, with my hands coming down instinctively to grasp at his hair. He lets me, and he licks, before licking long and sure stroked across my flesh, sucking my clit into his mouth every so often until I'm shaking and grinding down on his face. And he devours my whole, sparring me nothing in his onslaught.

"You okay?" he asked and I quickly nodded my head wanting him to continue. When he takes me into his mouth once more and laps at my clit, fingers pushing and curling up inside her simultaneously, I arched and tugged at his hair near painfully with my thighs locked around his neck. The little keening sound that escaped my mouth got higher and higher as each second passed, until finally, I'm shuddering hard and cries out his name, clenching around his fingers as I came. When he crawls back up to see I am, I couldn't help but smile at the sight of his face. He leaned down to place a kiss on my lips before collapsing onto my chest, and I breathed out a heavy breath as I tugged my hand onto his hair, whilst holding onto him gently. He made me feel so many emotions in the space of such little time, but we both knew it was far from over yet.

"You love me... when you said that before, did you mean it?" he asked as he rested his arm on my breasts.

I traced my fingers around his bicep and the tattoos on his left arm before nodding my head. "I did... and before you ask again, I'm sure, I'm very sure" I whispered placing a kiss on top of his head as he sighed a sigh of relief.

He lifted his head up from my chest before going to kiss my lips and I quickly kissed back, making sure to savour in the feeling of his sweet lips. He takes his time exploring my body once more, cataloguing every gasp and moan and sigh. His fingers stroke and touch, his tongue tastes and laves my skin. As I started to grind on him, he sucked firmly on my breasts as his large hands traced down my back, with his touch sending cold shivers up my spine. He's nothing but gentle the entire time, watching every little expression on my face to make sure that I was comfortable with what he was doing, and that I still wanted this. He knew that the second I said no, he'd stop. He'd never do anything that I didn't want him to.

"Please..." I breathed out, curling my legs around his hips. I locked him closer to me and arched my head back before urging him forwards. He stared down at me, almost as if he was searching for a sigh that this was what I indeed wanted, and when he found it, he quickly opened his drawer from beside the bed before diving inside to bring out a condom, before ripping it open with sweaty, shaking hands. Even though I was extremely anxious, you would think that he was still a virgin with how careful and nervous he was being, even though he was more experienced than I was.

I watched as he unbuckled the belt of his jeans and blushed at when he was finally naked. I could almost feel my cheeks burning. As he wrapped the condom around his shaft, I traced my hands along his muscles, scars and tattoos, admiring just how handsome and beautiful he was. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world at that very moment and I couldn't be more happier.

As he finished sliding the condom on, he leaned down and kissed me deeply, gripping onto my thigh with one hand and holding himself up with the other. Since he was much larger than I was, he made sure to tower over me slightly so he wouldn't crush me in any way. I gazed up into his eyes and raised my hands to cup his cheeks blissfully. Who would've ever thought that we would end up in that moment. When I first met Austin, I thought he was just another arrogant ass hole, but after getting to know him and spending so much time with him, it overwhelmed me to know that I could ever feel this way about someone. My feelings for him scared me, it overtook me, but I certainly had no doubts nor regret. He was what I wanted and all I wanted, and I couldn't believe it took me as long as it did to realise that.

"If it hurts, just tell me to stop okay" he whispered pushing my hair out of my face and I nodded firmly before flinging my arms around his shoulder. As I nipped at his bottom lip, he reaches down between them, lining himself up with my heat and pressing forward just a little. I stiffened then and he nuzzled my neck before placing soft kisses on my neck.

He pressed his forehead onto mine and waited until I slid my hands down his back, before thrusting inside me. His thrusts were slow and shallow initially until moving is easier and I was relaxed more. And then he pulls back and pushes in a little bit faster and a little harder and I couldn't help but let out a loud cry. He interlocked his hand with mine as I ran my nails down his back with my other hand. As he carried on making love to me, in ways that I didn't know was possible, I found myself losing control of my body and emotions, and before I knew it, I felt tears flowing from my eyes. It hurt, It hurt a whole lot, but it was a good type of pain. I never knew that this type of pain could feel so good. We were completely consumed with each other that we didn't think of stopping anytime soon.

"Uh you feel so good" he grunts and pushes in faster, praising me between kisses and moans. as I let out a soft cry, my nails scrapping up and down the expanse of his back. I panted heavily as he started to slow down, and in that moment it felt like there wasn't anybody or anything else in the world right now but him and her, this, the heat of their bodies and the sweat of their skin. He showers me in accolades as he slowly grinds against me, his hands all over. After a while, he lifted his head up to look down at me, his eyes widening as he saw the tears stained down my cheeks.

"I thought I told you to tell me to stop if I was hurting you... shit I shouldn't have gotten carried away" he sighed, before quickly pulling away.

"N-No its not like that, I was just really happy" I said smiling up at him, and pulling him closer to me once again.

He stared down at me and sighed before drying away the tears with his thumb. "You tell me if I'm really hurting you okay and I'll stop without question" he whispered lifting my hand up and kissing it and I nodded my head and smiled. He pinned both my hands up together before sliding in, this time more gently. It was the best moment of my life, we spent the next couple hours making love to each other non-stop in many different ways. I could never forget the feeling of his touch against my bare, pale skin, and the sound of the voice whenever he moaned of pleasure. I had given my all and everything to him that day and he returned the same. After it was over and we laid in each other's arms trying to catch our breaths, we both knew that there was certainly no going back after that. We were so attached, so in love that we simply lost our minds along the way.

* * *

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I yawned before lifting my head of the pillow to look around the dark room. It was 10 pm at night and Austin was nowhere to be seen.

I trailed my hand down the bed sheets as I started to think back to our love-making a couple hours ago, because that's what it was; love-making. Not just sex, not just fucking, not by a long shot. He had made me feel so alive, and made me forget all the problems I was going threw even if it was only for a couple hours. I would've wanted it to last forever if it could.

Realising that I was still naked, I slowly climbed out of his bed to put on my clothes until I spotted a large hoodie he had placed for me neatly on the edge of the bed. Smiling to myself, I pushed the covers of me before putting on the hoodie and tucking my hair back behind my ears. I then turned to face his window and took a deep breath before smiling to myself. Whenever I looked into a mirror, I always managed to see each and every flaw and insecurity that I had deep down, but when I looked into his mirror that night, I found none of that. I was truly happy, and I wanted to hold onto that happiness and never let it go. I didn't like wishing on stuff to last forever, because I knew that was merely impossible, but I somehow wished that this feeling with him would, I wished that I could cherish him in my life for a long, long time, I wished that it would never come to an end... but I didn't wish hard enough.

I diverted my gaze away from the mirror and glanced down at his table of a framed photo of him and his brother Aaron. The picture was dated 'January, 2007' , the year before he had died. I smiled at the way Austin wrapped his arms around him, almost in a fatherly way, after all, he did have to raise him on his own after their mother was sentenced to years in prison and their father had lost custody of them even though they were only a year apart. Aaron had dark brown hair, and deep blue eyes, you wouldn't think that they were brothers due to the fact that they looked nothing alike. Even though Austin was smiling, I could still spot the pain and misery in his eyes. He did try to be happy for his little brother, but it wasn't enough, and I guessed that he had unfortunately saw it too.

I placed the picture back down before glancing over at the clock and sighing to myself. I went to pick up my phone from the back of my jean pocket before turning it on to call my mom. I pressed the phone closer to my ear and waited until she finally picked up.

"Hey mom" I said not wanting to talk for too long due to what went down between us this morning. "I just wanted to call to let you know that I'll be staying over at Trish's tonight. If you haven't already, please eat the lasagna that I put in the fridge this morning, just... please eat something... that's all I wanted to say" I spoke. There was a long pause on the phone but I knew she was there, she didn't speak much after my father had left because he was all that was on her mind.

"You... you'll come back home tomorrow, right?" she asked finally speaking up as I stared over at the wall blankly. Whenever I was there she was nothing but distant towards me, but when I was away, all she wanted me to do was be with her. She feared that I would someday leave her like my dad, but I wasn't my father, even though we shared some similarities; we were both stubborn, sometimes arrogant, I wasn't anything like him.

"Yes. I will" I spoke taking a seat down on the bed.

"I... you know I love you, Ally" she muttered quietly, almost as if she wasn't sure if she should say it.

"Yeah... I-I know" I whispered and with that I hung up the phone, placing it down on the bed. I wanted to say it back, to reassure her that I was still going to be there for her even after what had went down this morning, but I couldn't find the strength in me to say it. I wasn't any good in telling people my affection towards them, I didn't have the same problem when I was little but nobody could be the same person they were all their lives. Growing up in Washington, my grandma would always use to call me her little ray of sunshine, a bundle of joy, the light to her life, but unfortunately that light died down a long time ago. If she could see how I was then, would she still look at me the same way as she did, would she still love me the same way?. It was only a matter of hope and faith.

I snapped out of my thoughts after several seconds, before getting up from the bed and walking out of the bedroom. "Austin..." I called but no answer. I tucked my hands inside the pockets as I strolled over to the living room. I called his name again but still no answer. I was about to start panicking, but stopped as I noticed the door of his brother's room pushed slightly open. I slowly walked over to it and peered inside the dark and deary room to see Austin sitting down on the ground beside the bed. I watched as he stared up at the ceiling blankly, but there was no denying that there were a lot of emotions running through his mind. My eyes darted around the room, before slowly stepping inside and going to sit beside him on the ground.

I shifted closer to him and placed my head on his shoulders and we sat together in silence for what seemed like forever. I knew that he needed his time to think about whatever was going through his mind so I didn't say a single word, even though I wanted to tell him not to worry anymore and that things were going to be okay. Those words were something I never imagined myself saying to somebody, but then again, I had become a different person because of him.

"I haven't been inside here for three years" he spoke up, and I quickly lifted my head up from his shoulder to glance up at him. "When he killed himself, I swore that I would never step foot in here again, I almost wanted to move out so that I couldn't be anywhere near it" he explained as I listened closely, paying attention to each and every word. "Every single day I think about how he killed himself because of me, and it haunts me, but... I don't wanna think about it anymore, I want to learn to let go of it so that... I can focus on you" he muttered the last bit before turning his head to gape down at me. "I want to focus on you and you only" he whispered before taking my hand and kissing it, causing a smile to quickly spread across my face.

He took his time in looking around the place for a brief while, almost as if he was finally saying goodbye to his brother after three years after his death. I got up from the ground and pulled him up with me, and with that we slowly made our way out the door hand in hand. He looked back inside the room before slowly closing the door shut and turning back to look down at me. "Your brother wanted nothing more for you to be happy, he would be proud of you" I smiled raising my hands to cup his cheeks.

He looked down into my eyes before pulling me into a tight hug. He picked up the ground and wrapped my legs around his waist and I squeezed onto his neck tightly whilst burying my face in his neck as he led us back towards his bedroom. I knew how hard it was for him to finally say goodbye to his brother, but it was as if he knew the only way the both of us could truly be happy together was if he began to slowly let go of his past and move on from all the heartache and pain he had suffered through for so many years.

* * *

 _ **Well I promised y'all a steamy chapter so here you go. This is my first time every writing a sex scene and I was a little hesitant in writing it, but I'm glad that I did. If you enjoyed this chapter from start to finish, don't forget to review until the next.**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

 _*Flashback: March 7th, 2002, Washington DC*_

 _It was a sunny afternoon and I was walking down the quiet and empty suburban street hand-in hand with my grandma. I clinged onto my backpack that was placed over my shoulders before looking up at her as she flashed me her usual gentle and warm smile. I giggled as she took my hand and kissed it before doing the same to her causing her to laugh. I loved to hear her laugh, it was one of those laughs that you only ever heard four or five times in life, it was a laugh that brought so much joy and kindness. My grandmother was a simple type of woman. She had money to spend due to her parents being incredibly wealthy when they were alive and my grandfather, her late husband having a lot of money as the Chief of Police, but despite that she was still genuine and kind, she didn't flaunt what she had, but acted like a regular person, which she was._

 _"How was school today, sunshine?" she asked gently rubbing my palm as I swinged my arms back and fourth"_

 _"It was okay..." I answered briefly._

 _She glanced down at me and chuckled before speaking up. "Oh sunshine, you're growing up so fast. I can't believe you're turning nine next month, I remember when you were still so tiny and my little bundle of joy" she squealed causing me to laugh. My grandmother and I's relationship felt like mostly mother and daughter at times. Since my mother was mainly focused on my dad, she would do all she could to try to take my mind of it and take care of me as best as possible, but I always noticed. Even though I was still a child, I still noticed those things. "After school tomorrow, we're going to go visit your grandfather's grave" she stated as I rolled my eyes away before pulling a face._

 _"Ally! what have I told you about making that face whenever I bring up your grandfather?" she scolded stopping to peer down at me. "Now what did he ever do to upset you so much, sunshine?" she sighed rubbing her forehead, before stopping to smile at a couple people walking past._

 _"Do we have to go see him?" I sighed looking back up at her as we carried on walking down the street. "Daddy tells me that grandpa was a really bad man, he said that when he was still alive he tried to stop him from marrying mom by using his chief of police powers and threatened to take us away from him" I stated leaving her gobsmacked and lost for words at how my father could've possibly told me something so secretive at such a young age. "Also grandpa criticised mom a lot, I heard whenever he would always call her stupid and good for nothing... it made her cry a lot" I explained gripping onto her hand as the sun beamed down on us._

 _We walked for a couple minuted in silence till she finally decided to spoke up. "Ally, look at me" she said briefly and I quickly did as told. "You know your mother left everything behind and had you at nineteen, she left high school, she left me and your grandfather..." she trailed off as I slowly nodded my head remembering the story of how my mother gave up everything for my father. "Your mother has always been a special type of person... she's vulnerable and hopeless and needs constant care and attention from the people close to her or else she'll-" she stopped mid sentence before going to rub her forehead once again. "That's why we need to try out best to look after her at all times" she chuckled lightly whilst gazing of in the distance but there was no expression on her face. "What do you mean by we need to look after her grandma? is there something wrong with mom?" I asked dumbfounded, staring up at her worriedly._

 _She looked down at me and rapidly plastered a smile onto her face before crouching down to cup my face. "Someday you'll understand everything Ally, and someday I want you to be the strong girl that I know you are and take charge in looking after your mom, because its just gonna be the both of you sooner than you think" she whispered pushing my hair back to gaze deeply into my eyes. Being a naive little girl, I wasn't sure what she meant by all of it, but I did what I always did in that situation and nodded. I didn't believe there would ever be a time where I would ever have to look after my own mom, after all a mother is supposed to look after the child, not the other way round, or so I thought._

 _"And as for your father..." she sighed getting up from the ground. "Your Father's a different type of man... you'll understand the type of person he is once you get older" she said flashing a hopeful smile before taking my hand and walking off. I stared up at her in confusion for a little while before turning to gaze of into nothing as I thought about everything she said. Back then I loved my Father mother than I could put into words, and I couldn't ever imagine seeing him in a different way than the loving and caring man I always thought he was._

 _~A short while later~._

 _We arrived back at out front porch where we heard shouting coming from the inside, and I sighed, quickly realising that it was my parents arguing yet again. They never used to argue that much, they were very happy from the first five-six years of my life, but everything seemed to change. I knew they fought so much because of me which led me to think that it was my fault._

 _"Ally, stay here okay I'll be back and we can head over to my house after" she smiled crouching down to place a kiss on my forehead before getting out her keys to unlock the door._

 _I watched as she stepped inside the house and rapidly shut the door after her before slowly taking a seat on the front porch. I watched cars drive by and people walk past as the sound of shouting from inside grew more louder each minute. It was unbearable. I can't remember how long I sat there for but I could remember what was being said inside; things that I weren't suppose to hear, things that were enough to scar me forever and things that justified my reasoning in blaming myself for their marriage. I wanted nothing more than to disappear into a hole where nobody could find me, I wanted to run away and never come back so I wouldn't have to listen to them argue all because of me. Its all my fault.. its all my fault... that's what I kept telling myself over and over as I remained sited on that porch for as long as I could possibly remember. It was better to blame myself than blame my mother and father; the two people I loved the most in this world._

 _After a while, I heard the door open from behind me and I quickly turned around to see my father staring down at me. His face was crimson red and his lips trembled in fright. I had never seen him that angry. "Daddy..." I spoke whilst getting up from the porch. He looked down at me before quickly diverting his eyes away and going to walk past me and over to his car as I watched on in confusion._

 _"Lester!" I heard my mother's voice and I quickly turned back around to see her running out of the house and over to him. "Please don't go, I'm sorry.. I'm sorry" she pleaded blocking the car door so he couldn't get inside. "I'll do better, I'll be a better wife, we can make it work, we can be happy" she cried before burying her face in his chest and sobbing loudly, drawing attention from some people walking past. "You're my everything, please don't leave, please". After a while, he gave in and immediately wrapped his arms around her before turning his head to glance over at me._

 _I glanced back at him in disbelief before turning back to look at my grandma as she leaned on the door frame gazing at me with heavy and worry eyes. It was then that I realised just how utterly hopeless my mother really was and how she was nothing without my father. It was sad to realise that at such a young age, but it was even sadder to see it carry on for years to come._

 _*End of flashback*_

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror suddenly seeing those flaws and insecurities that I thought had disappeared. Ever since then I've had to live with the up-most of guilt. Everything my grandmother had said to me that day was right, every single thing. I did finally get to witness the type of person my father was, it ended up being just me and my mother and I did have to look after her by myself after all. I hoped that it wouldn't be true, I hoped that everything she said wouldn't end up being a reality, but as I continued to stare at myself in the dull looking bathroom mirror, I realised that everything that went down in my past was indeed setting itself up for the future, a future that I saw coming but failed to acknowledge, a future that I dreaded so much I still wanted to run away and disappear from. I didn't deserve all this, but it was my fate and I couldn't stop it no matter how badly I wanted to.

Refusing to look back at myself, I immediately dried my face and sucked in a shaky breath before placing my backpack on my shoulders and walking out the door. I stopped in front of my mom's room to see her slowly flipping through a photo album whilst blowing onto her cigarette. I stared at her for several more seconds before lowering my head, realising that she was looking at pictures of her and my dad. "I'm leaving, I have a shift today so I'll be coming home late" I announced as her gaze slowly travelled towards my direction. Without looking back at her, I clinged onto my backpack ready to walk down the stairs but before I could, I was quickly cut off by the sound of her voice.

"Wait!" she called rushing out of her room and over to me. I sighed to myself, looking anywhere but into her eyes. They were so full of constant pain and despair that I knew wasn't going away soon. They were so vacant and held no life. With her gaping, empty eye-holes, I could notice a seemingly endless tunnel, reflecting neither light nor emotion, and yet, when I looked straight into her eyes, I felt somehow pulled by an unknown force. "W-Where are you going?" she asked, gently grasping the strings of her robe. I glanced down at her trembled hand with her frown slowly appearing on my face. I couldn't hide it even if I wanted to. "Its Friday mom, I'm going to school. I made breakfast for you downstairs, eat it after you take your medications" I said quickly shifting my eyes away from her hand. I went to turn around to walk down the stairs till she slowly clinged onto my arms stopping me.

"You'll come back home straight away right?, you won't leave me all night like you did last ti-

"Fucking hell mom I'm just going to school" I snapped causing her to jump. "Would you just give me some space!" I hissed raising my voice at her a little, finally getting fed up at how incredibly clingy and dependant sh had been ever since my dad decided to leave her. She lowered her head and sighed a small sigh, instantly causing me to feel an ounce of regret at my sudden choice of words towards her.

"You... you're just like him... all you do is yell and sooner you'll leave too, just like him" she murmured whilst locking eye contact with him.

I opened my mouth to speak but instantly stopped realising that I might hurt her even more if I did. Instead, I gripped onto my backpack tightly and turned back around to rush down the stairs wanting to get away from this house as quickly as possible. As I opened and shut the front door from behind me, I pressed my back against it and let out a deep sigh whilst running my fingers through my hair.

Moments later, I heard the sound of a motorcycle pulling up in front of me and I rapidly opened my eyes to see Austin. He bopped his head to the side signalling for me to come over and a smile quickly spread across my face. It was amazing how I could forgot about everything in one split moment just by seeing the mere sight of him, it was amazing how he made me feel this way. Without hesitation, I quickly rushed over to him and threw my arms around him, needing to feel his warmth, strength and comfort around me. He nestled my hips in-between his legs and held onto my waist tightly as we hugged each other not caring who was watching. After our passionate moment that we shared two weeks ago and the amount of times we've made love, we had become more closer than we were before. I wasn't sure if it was to do with the fact that we were now together, but every moment we shared suddenly felt special, like it was worth it.

"What's the matter?" he asked pulling away from the hug to look into my eyes. I had almost forgotten how well he could read me like a book and could tell if anything was instantly wrong with me.

"Its nothing for you to worry about, we have less than 20 minutes to get to school so lets go" I chuckled, cupping his cheeks before leaning down to place a soft kiss on his lips.

He sighed and sat me down on his lap before pushing my hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ears. The feeling of his touch was un-explainable, it amazed me that a simple touch could have such a big effect on me and make me feel so many things. "Forget about school, I asked what's the matter?" he muttered, this time more seriously. "If you don't answer me, we're missing school today and going back to my apartment" he said looking past me and towards my house. I sighed to myself going to get up from his lap, but before I could, he quickly pulled me back down, wrapping his arms around my waist tighter. "Don't you trust me, Ally?". I did trust him, he was the one person I trusted the most then, but I couldn't complain about my problems to him whenever something easily goes wrong in my life, I couldn't burden him with my issues and troubles when he's constantly faced with his own each and every single day and pretends to put on a rare smile for my own sake, I just couldn't. Being with Austin had made me open my eyes and made me realised that I wasn't the only one going through stuff on my own, he had been through way worse than I have and I certainly didn't wanna drive him away.

I gripped onto his jacket and stared into his eyes trying to find the right words to say. I was supposed to be the most cheerful one between the both of us, the one that kept the other going, butt right then I couldn't help but feel so weak and helpless. I just wanted to be alone with him, far, far away where nobody knows who we are, as cliche as that sounds, it was all I wanted. I wanted nobody but him in this cruel world and I knew he felt the exact same way.

Realising that I was never going to answer his question, he sighed to himself and looked back towards my house. He picked up the helmet beside him and placed it over my head before sitting me down at the back of his motorcycle. He firmly took my hand and kissed it before bending down to tie my shoe lace as I had forgotten to tie it and I couldn't help but smile once again. "Austin... should we go somewhere for a little while... just the two of us?" I asked peering down at him. He rose his head to look at me for a brief while before looking back at my house, almost as if he could tell that I needed to be away from here. "We'll go wherever you want, if that'll make you happy" he spoke before getting up from the ground and going to place a kiss on my neck before getting on the motorcycle and starting his engine.

I snaked my arms around his waist and placed my head on his back as I waited for him to drive off. He wanted to make me happy whenever he say that I was down and moody, but in reality I was the one that needed to make him happy after everything he had been through.

* * *

A while later, we arrived at our High school in downtown Miami.

We parked the motorcycle in Austin's parking spot, before walking towards the school hand-in hand with obvious stares from people. It didn't take long for the news to travel around school that Austin and I were dating, and whenever we were together, we would always get strange looks and silent from whispers especially from people who we had never even spoken to. People were shocked that Austin Moon; the guy who never spoke, the guy who got arrested in his junior year and the guy who was seen as dangerous and sadistic was then dating the new girl of the school. A lot of people thought that he had brain-washed me in some sort of way, the rumours were certainly strange, but we didn't have to explain ourselves to anybody, we didn't care what people thought, and we managed to keep it that way too.

I looked up at Austin and smiled before lifting his hand up to kiss it and he lowered his head and chuckled lightly with a blush slowly creeping up on his cheek. We walked past the popular people of the school and as usual they couldn't help but watch our every moves, whispering to themselves along the way. This was what happened every morning whenever we went to school.

"Hm, I guess freaks do belong with each other, after all" I heard Brooke say, which was followed by a couple snickers from her friends. I clenched my other fists turning around to fire back at her, but before I could, Austin quickly spun my head back. "Let it go, who gives a shit what they say" he spoke bluntly whilst rubbing my palm gently.

"Oh my god you can talk?!" Brooke giggled taking a step closer to us. "You actually sound kinda hot, why don't you talk more" as she lifted her hand up to place on his chest, I quickly smacked it away before flashing her a cold and hard stare causing her to take a few steps back. Rolling my eyes away, I tightened my grip on Austin's hand before pulling him over to Trish and Dez who was waving at us from afar.

"Hey guys" I smiled whilst gently and slowly rubbing Austin's palm. Even though he was still a little tense and hardly spoke to the both of them, I could tell that he was slowly warming up to them. I glanced over at Trish as she texted on her phone with a furious expression on her face before looking up at Dez, signalling for him to tell me what was going on. "Her and Trent are fighting, Trish got jealous at one of his ex girlfriends who came to visit him at the book store and they've been fighting since yesterday" he explained before rolling his eyes afterwards, which left me a little puzzled as Dez never felt annoyed with Trish despite her bold attitude."I wasn't jealous, she was just flirting with him right in front of me and he didn't do anything about it!" she snapped before turning her attention to Austin and I. "Will you talk some sense into Trent Austin, he always listens to you" she groaned a little irritatingly.

"You have nothing to worry about..." Austin spoke, causing everyone to look up at him. "Trent would never cheat on you anyway" he muttered briefly as she slowly lowered her head feeling a little guilty. "He's never cheated before either" he said before pulling me away towards the building as I quickly waved goodbye to the both of them.

We took our time walking towards the inside knowing we have different classes in the beginning of the day and won't get to see each other later on in the afternoon. As we stepped inside the halls began to clear up with people rushing to get to their classes on time. "Are you gonna miss me until English?" I giggled biting my lip, turning my head to look up at him. We were now the only two people standing in the hallway. He stared down at me deeply almost as if he was staring into my soul before grabbing my hand again and pulling me towards the janitor's closet which was not too far from us. He checked to see if anyone was in the hallway before opening the door for the both of us to quickly step in.

As he closed the door behind us, I got on my tip toes before pulling his head down and immediately capturing my lips. He lifted me up and slammed me against the wall, causing us to knock over a couple things, but we didn't care about that right then. I closed my eyes as our lips moved in unison, feeling a zap of electricity. The room seemed to spin around me. I clutched desperately onto him, never wanting this moment to end. I felt his hands pull me closer, as close as physically possible. The urgency in the kiss was unbearable, I wanted him, I wanted him then but we both knew that it was risky to do it then seeing as we were in our school's janitor's closet. Several seconds later, he pulled away from the kiss to stare into my eyes, almost as if it was the last time he was ever going to stare into them. "Lets go somewhere like you wanted, for the weekend, it'll be a two day trip and we'll be back on Sunday... just the two of us" he whispered causing a smile to quickly spread across my face.

I nodded my head grinning widely from head to toe before pulling him back into another heated make out session. Everything was perfect then, it was the type of relationship that made you swoon and made you think nothing could ever come in-between them, but what we failed to realise that we had insecurities, insecurities that overtook us in ways that made us regret the things we said and the things we did.

* * *

Hours late, it was around evening time and I was in my room packing for my weekend trip with Austin. Even if it was only for two days, it was still time alone together alone, time alone that I desperately needed.

I folded my clothes neatly into my suitcase whilst humming a tune that my grandma used to sing to me when I was little. I walked over to my bedside table to slowly face down the picture of my mother, father and I together. I remember the day when we took that picture. It was around the time of my 13th birthday when I thought that things were slowly getting better for the three of us but it turned out that I was a wrong. It only ended with a day filled with arguments that I had to sit and listen to all night. It was after that day I stopped going places with the both of them and accepting that things were never to be fixed. It was a hard truth that I had to force myself to accept, but it only made me stronger into the person I was then and the person that I am now.

Placing the picture faced down on the desk, I glanced over at the clock before smiling to myself and going to walk out of my room whilst holding onto my suitcase. I strolled down the hallway continuing to hum to myself silently.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I spotted my mom slowly walking out of the kitchen with a coffee mug firmly in her hands and I cursed under my breath, realising that I forgot to tell her I was going away for the weekend. As her eyes slowly travelled down spotting the suitcase in my hand, she quickly let go of her coffee mug, causing the glass to shatter all around the floor, leaving a deadly echo in the room. Her face was filled so much misery which made it hard to look at her for more than a couple second, the aura that lingered around her was almost unbearable. I couldn't look at her, I couldn't be in the same room with her, I shouldn't have felt such a way to the woman who gave birth to me but I did, and as we stood there in silence with only the sound of the clock ticking in the background, I realised that I would rather be anywhere but there.

"Where- where are you going?" she asked in a low yet threatening voice as I found myself taking a couple steps back away from her.

"I'm going away for the weekend, I won't be back till Sunday night" I explained as silence quickly filled the room once again. "If you need anything just call me and-

"LIAR, YOU LIAR!" she yelled startling me a little. I watched in distraught, as she quickly stormed over to lock the door before turning back to face me. "I know what you're doing, you're leaving me just like him aren't you, you're running away from me I know it, I tried to be a good mother to you, I'm not perfect and now you're gonna leave me just like he did" she screamed whilst throwing heavy tantrum. The taste in my mouth became tart and every bone in my body shaked with spite. I rubbed my forehead frustratingly and watched as she knocked over things in the living room. I should've stopped her and told her not to worry and that things were going to be alright, just like how I had been doing ever since my dad left, but I suddenly found myself frozen to the ground and unable to react.

"Mom, could you just stop... please" I sighed not wanting to raise my voice at her. "You're gonna break every fucking thing in this house, just stop, I'm only gonna be gone for two days and I'll be back okay" I said as her breathing began to get lower and lower. "Its just gonna be for two days" I assured hoping to calm her down, but I only made it worse.

She slowly turned her head around to look at me with a look that I had only ever saw once in life. It was a look she gave my grandfather the day before he died, a look filled with disgust but apologetic at the same time. She slowly walked over to me and stared into my eyes almost as if she was pleading for something that her herself wasn't sure about. Her eyes began to sting and her breathing had started to spiral out of control, causing uncontrollable tears to rapidly flow down her cheeks. There was nothing that I could ever do for her, there was nothing that I could do to ever make her smile, for real or to make her happy, it was always about my dad and it hurt to know that even after he left, I; her daughter would always still be second best. I glanced up at her with a blank and emotionless expression as she continued to release all of her grief and worries, but on the inside, I too was spiralling out of control seeing her like this. On the day I was born my grandma once told me that it was the happiest day of my mother's life but I knew that it was all a lie, after all what did a nineteen year old girl who was helplessly in love with a man want with a child anyway?. She didn't have to tell me to let me know that I was a burden because her actions for the past eighteen years of my life had told me everything that I needed to hear.

Moments later, I tore my eyes away from her, going to walk over to the door till she quickly stopped me by grabbing hold of my arms and forcing me to look up at her. "You're abandoning me, you're abandoning me aren't you, I won't let you leave, Ally, just stay and wait with me until your father comes back to us, when he comes back we can be happy again" she exclaimed grabbing hold of my cheeks as I stared up at her in disbelief. "We can be a happy family again with no worries and problems, we can make it work, I can fix this family... I will fix this family-

"This family is DEAD, just stop being so clingy!" I snapped cutting her of her sentence. "Just cut the bullshit and stop saying the same thing over and over again! this family's been dead for years and you made me believe that it was my fucking fault, you knew I constantly blamed myself for everything every single day of my life, yet you chose to say nothing.. just what kind of mother are you huh, what kind of woman are you?!" I yelled loudly finally losing my patience with her. I was sure all of the neighbours could hear me due to how loud I was yelling, but I didn't seem to care at that very moment. "Dad's gone, you're husband left us, he left you and he's never coming back so the sooner you get it through your head the better for the both of us!" I exploded, whilst throwing my arms up in the air as she looked down at me with quivering lips.

As she stood frozen to the ground whilst staring of into mid air, I rapidly picked up my suitcase and hurried over to the door as I quickly unlocked the locks. Without looking back at her, I opened the door to step out, before slamming it shut from behind me. Ignoring all the neighbours who were peaking at me from their houses and windows, I rolled my eyes away before hurrying out of my front porch and walking down the street as quickly as I could. Nothing mattered to me right then than getting the hell far away from that place and far away from her. I just couldn't take it anymore, I had ultimately reached my boiling point.

I was looking ahead. Only ahead. Even so sometimes it would come back to me. Was I right in heading forward? did my compass show me the right direction?. All I wanted was to be with him, to suddenly be in his arms, for him to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay even though I knew damn well that it wasn't. I was looking ahead at him and only him, as I walked further down the street he was all I could see despite him not actually being there, my vision was slowly becoming blurry due to the tears that filled my eyes but I could still see him with open with open arms and that rare smile on his face that I was lucky enough to see. Was I right in only seeing him?. I didn't want to look back, I wanted to keep going forward, I wanted to forgot about everything that had happened, not just then but since everything began to go wrong in my life, and I knew heading forward was the way to go. I picked up my speed, I ran and ran but I ultimately came to halt as I heard something that still haunted me even till this day.

 _"Somebody! somebody call an ambulance! that lady_ _just jumped from her roof!"_

It was silent and my mind instantly went blank. The only thing I could hear was the sound of people screaming and gasping. My suitcase slowly slipped out of my hand and down to the ground and in a swift motion I turned my head back around to see her body laying helpless on the floor. She had jumped, and that was all I could suddenly see.

Was I wrong in going forward?...

* * *

 _ **What do you think will happen next?...**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

The morning was silent, too silent. The air was cooler and crisper, the breeze just chilly enough to perk me up and the sky was a hazy, gauzy tumble between the clouds and the newborn sun.

I should've saw it coming, I should've known that something like that would happen sooner later, but the vulnerability and hopelessness of her actions wasn't enough to justify my wisdom, it wasn't enough to justify my well-being and my future with her. So there I was sited outside the cold and gloomy hospital hall waiting for some sort of news of how she was. Ever since she jumped a couple days before, I had refused to move from there. She jumped without caution, without thinking about how I would feel afterwards. She was extremely selfish, but I couldn't abandon her and I certainly didn't want to lose her, after all she was my only mother, the woman who gave birth to me. Maybe if I just stayed then all of that wouldn't have happened, she wouldn't have ended up in a hospital bed, broken and wounded whilst fighting for her life. _What was I to do? was I doing the right thing? what was I doing the wrong thing?_. I was so sure that I could make her happy and forget about my father after he left but the only thing I did was to get her to jump from the roof leaving me behind.

I slowly rose my head up to look at Austin who wrapped his arm around me whilst gazing over at a sick cancer patient who sat far down the hall. I was lucky to have him here with me for the past couple days but also a little scared, I didn't want to lose the one person that mattered to me the most in this world because of all my fucked up problems that had recently occurred. He glanced down at me and placed a kiss on my forehead as I gazed up at him before placing my head back down on his shoulder. I was startled, completely frightened of what was to come, but even after blaming myself once again in the few days I sat inside that Hospital, I couldn't seem to shed a tear. I was sure it was because I was scarred and unable to show any emotion after seeing her lifeless body laid down on the concrete floor, but I only realised it was because I was desperately trying to hold in the tears without noticing. _What was wrong with me?... what kind of daughter doesn't cry after her mother jumps from a roof in attempt to end her life?..._

Moments later, I turned my head to glance back at her Hospital door before quickly diverting my eyes away as it was too painful. "I'm gonna go to the store and get you something to eat, I'll be right back" Austin murmured and before I could reply, he removed his arm from around me and stood up from the chair before walking down the hall. It was true that I hadn't been eating for the past couple of days, and I knew that it frustrated him heavily, but food was certainly the last thing on my mind.

Sighing to myself for the millionth time this morning, I leaned back into the chair and gazed over at the wall completely lost in my own thoughts and emotions. My eyes narrowed to a woman who quickly walked past me holding up a big balloon which said _'Happy 18th birthday'_. As she hurried down the hall and walked into a hospital room I slowly remembered that it was April 9th, the day of my own 18th birthday. I had been so heavily focused on my mother that I had completely forgotten my special day. Austin and everybody around me must have forgotten too and I didn't blame them one little bit, after all so many things were happening around us that my birthday was the least of their worries. Any normal teenagers would be out having the time of their lives on their 18th birthday, but there I was sited beside the Hospital door of the woman who jumped from the roof, knowing it will cause me more misery.

I pushed my head back to look up at the ceiling as I thought about how my grandmother would go over to the top for my birthdays when I was little. She would always make me feel so special to take my mind out of everything that was happening with my parents and there were time where I took it for granted. I loved her truly and all I wanted was to see her, thankfully luck was in my favour for once in my life.

"Happy Birthday, dear" I hadn't heard her voice in so long that I almost forgotten what it sounded like. I heard the sound of her heels clicking on the floor and I quickly snapped my head to the side to see my grandma taking a seat beside me. "I'm sorry for not getting here soon enough" she said placing her purse on the seat beside her as I gaped deeply at her not saying a word. My Grandmother was the type of woman that whenever she walked into a room everyone would stop to look at her, she had an electrifying, radiating energy that made people instantly drawn to her. She and I were very close when I was little, as close as a grandmother and granddaughter could be, but as I started to get closer that special relationship we had just wasn't there anymore. I wasn't sure if it was to do with the fact that I was becoming a different person as each year passed, but things were different between us and I couldn't help but think that it was my fault. She used to call me her sunshine and pick me up everyday after school, but that all stopped, and without realising it, we drifted apart. I hadn't seen her then since last year in December when she came to spend Christmas with us, and even when I fund out we were moving to Miami in January, I still wished till this day I called to say goodbye to her. I had so many special and amazing memories with her when I was child, that I didn't know how to act around her then.

I stared directly into her dark, emerald green eyes and for the first time since a couple days, I felt my eyes began to slowly water. Stopping the tears from flowing down my cheeks, I slowly turned my head away from her to stare at the wall in silence. I wanted to say hello, I wanted to tell her that I missed her dearly and I was glad she was here but I feared that if I opened my mouth to speak I would instantly burst into tears, so instead I sat in silence whilst gazing over at the wall, feeling her gaze lingering on me.

Moments later, the Doctor who was in charge of looking after my mom walked out of her hospital room and I quickly sat up in my seat as I waited for what she had to say. I had been waiting so long to hear about any news regarding her that I wasn't aware of what I would do if I was told she was dead. I watched as my grandma introduced herself to the doctor and shook her hand before bombarding her with questions on if she was okay or not. "Miss Dawson..." she began taking of her glasses to glance down at me and I quickly nodded my head. "Your mother's okay..." she said and I shut my eyes before running my hand down my face. "But... unfortunately since she fell high from the roof and landed hard on the concrete the lower half of her body is now paralysed, also she suffered a lot of brain damage and broken bones in her body" she explained as I sat silently to myself.

"It says on your files here that today is your 18th birthday" she stated glancing down at the files in her hands before wishing me a happy birthday. "If you were under 18 I'm afraid that your mother would've lost custody of you right away due to her jumping from the roof, but since you're now a young adult, you will need to make the decisions regarding your mother, that includes her medical bills. I'll advice that once she's healed you put her somewhere where she can get a lot of help, like I said previously, she's suffered a lot of brain damage. I'll explain more things to you later Miss Dawson, but for now you're free to go see her" she said pointing towards her hospital door. "I'll take care of all my daughter's medical bills, doctor" my grandma uttered getting up from her seat to shake her hand once more as I sat glued to my seat.

Once the doctor had turned to walked away, my grandma slowly sat down on the seat beside me. Even though the doctor had said it was okay to go see her, I didn't wanna move from my seat. I didn't wanna see her, knowing that her intentions were to eventually kill herself when she jumped from the roof. I'm sure she was disappointed when she walk in her Hospital bed to see the Doctor and nurses around her, and I'm sure that I was the last person that crossed her mind like always. She didn't care about my well-being, all she wanted was for her life to be taken away so that she wouldn't have to feel the constant pain she felt everyday ever since my father left. I hated that about her, I hated how hopeless and careless she was, but I couldn't hate her as a person because even after all that happened, she was still the woman who gave birth to me, she was still my mother.

"I'm sorry, Grandma" I spoke up with my voice breaking on every word, but it was nothing more than a whisper. I was conflicted, I felt weak, and I didn't have the strength to hide it any longer. "I know you said that we always had to look after mom at all times... you were right about everything, I'm sorry that I couldn't look after her properly... I made her wanna kill herself, I'm so sorry grandma" I murmured quietly whilst gazing of into the distance. I was feeling a lot of emotions right then but I certainly wasn't going to allow myself to cry no matter what.

Before I could bury my face in my hands, I felt my grandma quickly wrap her arms around me and pull me closer reassuringly. She placed my head on her shoulder and gently rubbed my back, just like she did all the time when I was little. I hadn't felt her hold me like that in so long, it was a little overwhelming. "You did your best, Ally... you're very strong you know that" she whispered soothingly whilst stroking the back of my head. "Lets go see your mother" she said before getting up from the chair and pulling me up with her.

I didn't wanna come face to face with her, but I knew that I couldn't avoid it forever. Pushing a strand of my hair behind my ears, I slowly followed her into the hospital room. I glanced over at the sterile white hospital walls before looking over at my mother who laid on the bed. Unable to look at her for much longer, I quickly diverted my eyes away, before slipping my hands inside my pocket and leaning on the door frame. My mind was blank but everything seemed to be spinning around me at the same time. As I closed my eyes all I could see was her lifeless body laying down on the concrete floor after she jumped and I began to wonder if that was all I was going to see for the rest of my life. I knew I was already scarred, but was I going to be truly haunted by that scene of my mother for the rest of my life?. I hated what she did to me, and being in the same room with her made me want to turn around and walk out, but I couldn't, not even if I wanted to.

Finally opening my eyes several seconds later, I turned my head to look over at her once again. Her body was nearly lost in the sheets of the hospital bed and she didn't move. She sucked in air through a tube in her throat and the machines pushed the oxygen into her in a rhythmic tempo that was almost irritating to watch and listen to. The machines around her hummed and made faint noises that filled the room with an ambient presence. The one closest to her beeped in rhythm to her heart, causing her want to feel her pulse and make sure that it was really hers. Moments later, I narrowed my eyes to glance at my grandmother as she slowly approached my mom. I watched as she sat down on the chair and reached out to her hands, the hands which she once held when she gave birth to her many years ago, they now barely moved as she slipped her fingers across their papery surface. She leaned over her, forcing herself into her field of vision, and before I knew it, her eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked into the watery depths. As she stared up at her mother, a tear fell from her cheek and struck her chin. Another tear slipped out of her eye and trailed down to the pillow as she turned her head to the side to glance at me, but I rapidly looked away, unable to look into her eyes. I just couldn't find it in me to do so.

After a short while, my grandma slowly slipped her hand away from hers before placing her purse and cursing quietly under her breath. "Are you proud of yourself, Penny?" she asked gazing down at her intensely. "Why did you do it huh? haven't you already caused that poor girl enough harm and suffering!" she snapped pointing over to me as I leaned on the door whilst desperately trying to hold back the tears that were desperately trying to fall from my eyes. I watched as my grandmother ran her fingers through her short, light brown and curly hair before speaking up once more. "Out of all the things you've done this is by far the worse, now your daughter doesn't even want to be anywhere near you! did you stop to think about how she would cope when you decided to jump from that fucking roof?! when will you learn to let go of Lester Penny? he never loved you like you loved him, when will you realise that and stop being a child! you aren't a teenage girl anymore Penny, you're almost 40 years old!" she yelled not caring that she was in a Hospital

"When you ran away with Lester at 17, I thought that I had lost you forever but you came back two years later when you had Ally. I wish that I had taken her away from the both of you while I still had the chance... you were the smartest girl in school, you had a future, a proper one, but you threw all that way for a man who only ended up leaving you in the end. You are a disgrace as a mother and as a daughter too. You're not a child anymore Penny, have you ever sat down and thought about Ally, when you and Lester wanted to move her to Miami I supported it because I thought Ally needed a change but I was wrong! you both just continued to make her life more miserable... I wish I hadn't told her to be strong for you when she was a child, I wish I had let her be a child instead of telling her to take care of her mother..." she exclaimed as a tear slowly slid down her cheek, in which she quickly wiped away. "Ally used to smile all the time, she could never stop smiling, but she hasn't smiled once today, and its all because of you, you did this, and you should be ashamed of you Penny! if you weren't already in this state I would've slapped you!"

More tears flew down from my mother's eyes as she turned to gaze at me once again. I gazed back at her with a hard yet distraught expression before lowering my head back down not wanting to say anything to her. I wanted to yell at her just like my grandma was doing, but I feared that if I did, I would end up saying something that I would truly regret and wouldn't be able to come back from. Running my hands down my face, I quickly turned around to exit out the door as my breathing began to increase by the second. I placed my hand on my forehead and pressed my back against the wall, and within a couple seconds, my grandma walked out of the hospital room with a serious and furious expression evident on her face.

"I've made up my mind Ally, lets go back to that house and pack your bags, you're coming with me back to Washington right away, you'll go to a good college there and-

"If this was before I would've said yes, but I can't" I said bluntly, quickly cutting her off her sentence. "You were the one who told me to take charge in looking after my mom someday, and I can't leave not when she's like this. I know she tried to kill herself, but who would look after her if I'm not here? Lester? that bastards not coming anywhere near her again and you know it too grandma. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but I'm just doing what you told me to do a long time " I said before pushing my back up against the wall and turning my full attention to her.

She stared at me in disbelief, not believing that I would eventually take charge on her before letting out a deep sigh and speaking up. "When your parents decided to move you too Miami you didn't anything to do with this place, so why now do you wanna stay, Ally? surely it can't all be because of your mother, so why else do you want to remain here?" she questioned, whilst crossing her arms above her chest. I lowered my head to look down at the ground and before I could speak up, I heard footsteps coming from behind me, causing my heart to instantly flutter. I didn't have to turn around to know that it was him, because I could almost feel his presence whenever he was around.

"I'm sorry that I took so long" his deep and raspy voice filled my ears, and I slowly turned around to see him holding a bag full of food and snacks. Somehow as I stared up into his eyes, I found myself almost forgetting my surroundings and who ever was around me. I didn't need any more proof to know that I was in fact in love with me, because when I stared into his eyes then, I felt like curling up into his arms and sobbing into his chest as he holds me tight and close, never letting go. "Its okay..." I muttered taking a step closer to him, and for the first time that morning, I felt a smile slowly creeping up on the corner of my lips. He gaped down at me about to lift his hand up to cup my cheek, but stopped as he met my grandmother;s gaze from behind me.

"I'm Ally's grandmother, who may you be young man?" she asked looking up at him then back at me.

I nodded my head up at him and he handed the bag of food to me before taking a step closer to my grandmother to shake her hand. "I-I'm Austin... her boyfriend, Ally's told me a lot about you" he said nervously. As the words slipped out of her mouth the smile on her face began to slowly fade away, almost as if she had just seen a ghost. She quickly removed her hand from his and gaped up at him with a hard and stern expression, almost as if he suddenly reminded her of something or someone. She scoffed to herself and pulled her blazer jacket over her shoulder before turning her attention back to me to flash me a disappointed look puzzling me a little. "Is something the matter, grandma?" I asked quickly grabbing hold of Austin's hand. As I did so, her eyes rapidly flickered down to her hands in disgust. She stared down at it for a couple seconds, before turning to look back at my mother's hospital door.

I watched as she rubbed her forehead a little frustratingly before clearing her throat and speaking up. "I see now why you want to stay..." she muttered under her breath, whilst joining her hands together. "Your mother made this mistake many years ago, but I won't allow you to do the same, we're going back to Washington right away" she said going to grab my hand, but before she could, I quickly pulled it back. I could tell that it hurt her, I had never refused her hand before, I was always the first to hold her hand whenever I got the chance to, when she walked me to school and came to pick me up everyday, I always clinged onto her hand for dear life, but that wasn't the case that day. This was partly the reason why we had grew apart, but I couldn't bring myself to think about that right then, not when she was in my presence after such a long time.

"I'm sorry grandma, but I already told you I'm not going back-

"This is exactly what your mother did!" she snapped throwing her arms up in the air as some people in the hall stopped what they were doing to look in our direction. "She threw away her career as a future lawyer for a man and now you wanna do the same?. You're a smart girl, Ally, didn't you tell me you wanted to be a lawyer? I know you're 18 but you're still a child. Next thing you know you're going to run away with him, get pregnant and he's going to end up leaving you just like your father did! Its not like you to be this careless and stupid, Alison... I'm disappointed" she muttered angrily, as I grew more and more annoyed by the second.

"Are you saying that I'm going to end up like my mom, because I'm not-

"That's exactly what I'm saying Alison... all men are the same, I thought you would've understood that after everything your father put you through" she hissed with her voice getting louder by the second.

She removed her eyes away from me, and turned to look closely up at Austin almost as if she was carefully analysing him in a way. "What do you want exactly with my granddaughter young man?, I suppose she's told you everything... I know men like you, you want one thing and one thing only, you can't possibly have real feelings for my granddaughter-

"Stop it grandma!" I yelled drawing more attention to us. I had never raised my voice at her like that and could tell that it shocked her a lot. "Yes, I just don't want to stay back for my mom, but I'm also staying back for Austin. I'm not gonna explain to you why I'm choosing to stay back with him because I know that you won't understand. My mom was naive back then when she first met my father, she was confused with life and completely clueless and hopeless, but I'm not her, I am my own person and I would never be nor end up like her. I didn't want to come to Miami at first, but I'm fine where I am now. You were and still are my everything grandma, you were the person I could turn to whenever I had a problem and you always had a solution to, you weren't just my grandma but you were my best friend too, and you saw something in me that I could never see in myself. You used to call me your little sunshine when there was no god damn light in me to begin with, you cared and loved me more than anybody else when I was a child, but I'm not that age anymore... I'm not gonna hold your hand and follow you around like I used to because its too late for that, I don't need much from you right now, but what I do need is for you to continue believing in me and trust me" I spoke boldly squeezing onto Austin's hand, causing her eyes to quickly water.

She stared into my eyes, almost as if she was remembering the memories of us together. I was her bundle of joy, her little sunshine, but not anymore, because nothing ever truly lasts forever. She quickly gathered herself up and cleared her throat before turning to look back at the hospital door then back at me. "I'm sorry... but I can't approve of this... you're making a big mistake" she spoke briefly. She took one last good look at me for a brief while, before placing her sunglasses back on and going to walk past me.

I guess I couldn't blame her after all, but I was deep down hoping that there would be a time where she would stop seeing me as a child, but as a young woman who would grow up making sure that she doesn't end up like her mother.

* * *

 _~Hours later._

It was sometime around late evening, and Austin and I were arriving back to his apartment building.

Ever since this morning, I hadn't stopped thinking about what my grandma had said, and how she had left with such a false impression of me. It wasn't what I wanted, but I was sort of expecting it, seeing as I had refused to go back to Washington with her. What was even more harder was heading back inside my mother's hospital room after I had walked out. Of course I yelled and let out all of my frustrations on her, I couldn't help myself, and I think the reason why I was able to stop myself from crying was because I had Austin by my side. Although my mom was a little sceptical of him too, she didn't dismiss him like my grandmother. I wouldn't know what I would've done without him by my side for the past couple of days, I know he thought that it was nothing and would always say that I would do the same for him, which I wold, but he had no idea just how much appreciative of him I really was and how much I valued his love for me. I was extremely grateful.

"Are you tired?" he asked parking his motorcycle in his reserved parking spot before getting of and going to help me out of it, and I briefly nodded my head, before yawning loudly, seeing as I had hardly gotten any sleep since the incident. He wrapped his arm around my waist as he lead me up the stairs to his apartment building, and I nuzzled up closer to him, whilst closing my eyes along the way. He didn't say anything after my grandmother left, but I could tell that he was very annoyed.

As he placed a kiss on my forehead and dived into his pocket to bring out his car keys, all I could think about was cuddling up with him till morning in his arms and forgetting everything that had happened that day and for the past couple of days. I placed my hand on his waist as he slowly unlocked the door open to his apartment. He flashed me a small smile before opening the door wide open for me to step inside first. I got on my tip toes to place a quick kiss on his lips and quickly stepped inside, only to be met with the unexpected.

"Surprise!" Trish, Dez, and Trent quickly jumped up from where they were hiding startling me. My mouth hung low as Trish walked over to me holding a birthday cake whilst Trent and Dez followed from behind her, holding some balloons and gifts in their hands, and I could feel my eyes start to slowly water as they began to sing 'happy birthday' at the top of their lungs. It was simply a surprise that I never saw coming and would never be able to forget even till this day.

"I'm really sorry about your mom Ally, but I'm glad that she's okay" Trish smiled approaching me. "I know that no amount of sorry's would ever take back what happened, and I wish I was there for you when it all went down. I can't tell you that things are gonna be okay, because I don't know if that's true, but you have us and we'll always be there for you, I love you" she grinned widely, holding the cake up to my face and urging me to blow out the candles. I stared down at her teary-eyed before going to blow out my candles as everybody clapped and cheered. "Y-You didn't have to do all this Trish, I love you too" I exclaimed before turning to look at Dez who quickly pulled me into a hug, lifting me up on the ground along the way. "Happy Birthday, Ally, we're sorry we couldn't come with you to the hospital, we had to plan, but we'll be there with you from tomorrow" he smiled placing me back down on the ground and I smiled before pulling his head down to place a kiss on his cheek.

As the tears in my eyes started to flood more and more, I slowly turned my head to look up at Trent, who flashed me a warm and gentle smile. He extended his hand out to me and I quickly took it. "You thought we all went and forgot your birthday huh?" he snickered, slowly turning me around so that I was now facing Austin, who leaned against the door frame whilst gazing over at me with his arms crossed above his chest. "This was all your mans idea, he wanted to make this special for you because of what happened to your mom... believe it or not he loves you more than you think" Trent whispered causing Austin to blush deeply and lower his head nervously.

I turned my head to smile back at Trent, before slowly walking over to Austin and throwing myself in his arms. I squeezed onto his waist tightly, burying my face in his chest, as he cupped the back of my head and placed his other hand on my waist comfortingly. As he continued to hold me tightly in his arms, the apex of my emotions had began to take over and nothing could hamper the feeling of my heart. Crying was indefinite. Before I knew it, the tears flowed uncontrollably down my eyes like a river escaping a dam. After trying my hardest to hold back tears since earlier today, I just couldn't find the strength to hold it in anymore. It was as if his arms was a release of emotions and whenever he held me, I found myself letting out emotions that I didn't even know I could. He picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist before going to sit on the sofa so I was then straddling him as everyone watched on. I held onto his neck tighter, and before I knew it, I started to sob silently into his shoulder. I wasn't sure how long I cried for, but all I could remember was how he sat there and held onto me almost as if he was scared of letting me go. He didn't have to say anything and tell me that things was going to be okay, because him holding me like that was enough for me to believe that it would be.

 _~Several more hours later._

I shot up straight in bed, drenched to the skin in my own sweat. I breathed fiercely in the thick recycled air as shivers went through my body like a cold wind. Just like I expected, I had another nightmare of my mother jumping from the roof once again. It was real, it happened, but I couldn't seem to forget about that scene no matter how much I tried. As I looked around noticing that I was in Austin's room, I began to slowly relax a little bit, but that didn't help my breathing as I couldn't seem to control it.

"Ally, Ally, calm down" Austin uttered in a raspy and sleep voice as he quickly rose his head from the pillow beside me to grab hold of my shoulders. He caressed my cheeks to calm me down a little, before pulling my head down to his shoulder. "Oh Austin..." I breathed out, whilst gripping onto his shirt. "I had a nightmare about it again, every time I do I get worse... I'I'm sorry for waking you, I just-" I sighed unable to finish my sentence. I didn't like to be a needy and annoying girlfriend who relief on him a lot of the time, but I couldn't hide how much I needed him then, not even if I wanted to.

He climbed out of the bed and went to open the windows to let in some fresh air before going to lay down on the bed beside me. He pulled me on top of him and wrapped his arm around my lower waist, and I closed my eyes listening to the sound of his heartbeat as I suddenly found myself calming down by the second. "Its okay, I got you" he whispered as he slowly ran his large hands down my back. Sometimes I couldn't believe just how much he was there for me, when he clearly had more problems than me, but he didn't let that bother him as he always made sure that I was his main priority. He loved me even though I didn't deserve his love and affection and cherished me like he had never cherished anything before. I didn't realise just how lucky I was to have him in my life until it was too late.

"I was thinking..." he began, slowly lifting the hem of my shirt and drawing small circles on my bare back, causing me to relax. "Come live here with me" he said, causing me to quickly lift my head up his chest to look down at him. He gazed into my eyes deeply that I quickly realised he was being dead serious. "You already spend all your time here, and I don't want you to go back to that house where your mom tried to kill herself... I want to help you forget about all that... I wanna take care of you right here" he whispered the last bit before sitting up on the bed and running his hand down my cheek.

I threaded my fingers through his blonde hair and smiled down at him like he hung the moon. "Well... I guess this is my home now... with you" I whispered, with my nails scratching along his scalp gently, causing a wide smile to spread across his face. I had never seen him smile so wide before and it was truly a beautiful sight. I pulled his head down to my mouth and bit his lip, kissing him slow and easy, with my small hands exploring his back and my legs wrapped around him tight. There wasn't really a need to take anything off; I was perfectly fine just making out with him like this, sharing his breath, gazing deep into his eyes. But when he pulled away, and looked at me with mischief in his eyes, I could feel my body responding in all the most sordid of ways. I wish he knew just how much I desired him, just how sexy and irresistible he was to him.

When I peeled my top off and toss it over his shoulder before yanking at the waistband of his pyjama pants, I figured the best way to tell him was without words.

* * *

 ** _This was one of my favourite chapters to write so far, so I hope y'all enjoyed it, and if you did, don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it, until the next chapter!_**


	19. Chapter 19

_**Disclaimer: the entire story would be in Ally's POV as she is the main protagonist.**_

* * *

Every morning ever since I started living with him, I would watch him wake up at the crack of dawn. He would stand beside his window and watch the sun go up, completely frozen in his thoughts. I often wondered what he thought about and what went through his head to make him wake up so early each and every day. He never told me anything because it would lead him to bring up his past, which was still a very sensitive subject for him. He was so mysterious, so hard to read, and even though we had reached our potential on our relationship, I still wanted to feel closer to him.

It was a bright and early Tuesday morning and I laid on the bed whilst gazing over at Austin who stood gaping out the bedroom window. I remembered that day so clearly.

It had been two and a half weeks since I started living with him, and it was amazing to say the least. We were happy and compatible just being with each other, things were sort of perfect and great, and the only thing I worried about was our insecurities possibly damaging what we had. Even though I still had to take care and look after my mother who was in the hospital, whenever I was with Austin he made me feel loved and taken care of, which was something I experienced only a long time ago. The foundation our relationship was based in that apartment. We did everything there, we laughed, made love, embraced each other, argued then made up, but most of all we loved... we loved like two people who had never experienced such feeling before. I wished those times would never come to end, I wish we could remain in that small Miami apartment forever, but I really should've known back then that nothing lasts forever just because you want it to.

Moments later, I pushed the covers of me before slowly climbing out of the bed and walking over to me. As I approached him, I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, and with that I could feel his muscles started to relax from whatever emotion he was feeling inside. I placed a kiss on his bare back and rested my head on it as we watched the large glowing sphere rise slowly into the dull morning sky, casting sunbeams in every direction whilst it illuminated the small town. I stared out the glass panes as the colours made by the rising sun began to change, growing more vivid with the passing time and making the sky more radiant as it climbed higher and higher into the sky. But as beautiful as the morning was, I couldn't say the same for the rest of the day to come.

"I have a fight tonight... at 7:30" he spoke up before turning around to face me. The tone in his voice was a little hesitant and I could understand why seeing as the last time he fought, he got badly hurt which almost put a strain in our relationship.

As I stared up at him a little worriedly and sceptically, he sighed to himself before taking my hand and leading me over to the bed where he sat me down on his lap. "Who's the fight with?" I asked slowly wrapping my arm around his neck and gently grasping his messy morning hair. He looked at me like he didn't want to go into further detail, but he knew me and knew I wouldn't take that so lightly. "I've fought him before and I won, so there's nothing for you to worry about, but I don't want you to come, I'll be fine so-

"I'm going to be there" I muttered quickly cutting him off his sentence. "I can't not be there just because you don't want me to see you fight, its different than it was before, I'm going to be there no matter what" I smiled before leaning down to place a kiss on his lips, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel extremely nervous. Whenever Austin had a fight I feared for the absolute worse, because it didn't matter if he won or lost, he always ended up brutally beated down and injured in the end, and it was something I was afraid to see happen. As I finished of my sentence, silence began to float around us, and everything seemed to be frozen in mid air. I glanced down, meeting the tender, softness of his brown eyes. He took my hand, his finger-less gloves scratching against my skin as he looked deeply into my eyes, almost as if he was in deep thought about something. We stayed like that looking at each other with mutual intensity, until he cupped my chin in his hands, pulling me further towards him. Our eyes slowly lulled shut and I waited for his lips to descend on mine. When he did, I felt the warm feeling that I felt whenever he kissed me quickly spread throughout me. We continued to make out with our hands exploring each other's bodies for what seemed like forever till we heard a knock on the door, causing us to pull apart.

"Are you expecting someone?" I asked getting up from his lap as he shaked his head. I quickly tossed him a white t-shirt from his drawer for him to put on, and with that we strolled out the bedroom and over to the front door with me following from behind. Austin took a deep breath and glanced back at me before going to open the door.

Standing outside the door was a young man and woman who looked to be in their early 20s, no later. He had dark brown hair and held a rich looking smirk on his face and she had flawless dark skin and long black hair. They had the biggest wide smiles on their faces as they stared at Austin and I. "Hello, I'm Gavin and this is my fiance Kira. We moved into the apartment down the hallway last night so we thought we come say hello to all our neighbours" he spoke before wrapping his arm around his stunning looking fiance and placing a kiss on top of her head as Austin and I watched on. "Mind if we come in, y'all are the first person that actually opened the door for us this morning and we brought a little something" Kira beamed, holding up the bouquet of daisies and roses in her hand and the bag of food before handing it over to me. They were a little over the top and in your face, but I guess it was just who they were.

I glanced up at Austin who stared at the both of them blankly before slowly pushing the door open and plastering a warm smile on my face. "Uhm yeah sure" I chuckled as they flashed me a grin before stepping inside the apartment. "I'm Ally, and this is my boyfriend Austin" I said offering my hand out for them to shake. They quickly shook my hand, complementing me afterwards before turning their heads to glance around the apartment.

"We gotta say y'alls apartment is definitely a lot nicer than ours" Gavin spoke as Kira laughed whilst clinging onto his arm. They were like a couple that most people loved to adore and base their standards of. They were both very good looking, tall and happy in each other's presence. They definitely had a strong presence about them that made me feel a little overwhelmed. I watched as Gavin turned to glance up at Austin's painting which was hung at the living room wall before turning his attention back over to us.

"Alright, which one of you is the artist? I mean this is the kinda shit that belongs in a museum, right baby?" he asked as she blissfully.

"If you need help moving anything in, then I don't mind helping you out" Austin spoke quickly changing the subject. When it came to his art it was no secret that he didn't believe in himself. He painted a lot of paintings, which he stored away, but he never looked at any of them twice except for that painting in the living room I could never figure out. I would tell him that he was wonderful and brilliant and that he had so much potential, but he never believed me, he never trusted what I said and honestly I couldn't blame him at times, but I wished that he could trust himself in his work and realise that painting was another happiness for him.

I etched my hands closer to his and slowly inter-wined our hands together as we headed over to the sofa to sit with Gavin and Kira. It should've been a little awkward seeing as we didn't know each other, but it was far from that. They weren't the type of people to not let any awkwardness flow in as they couldn't stop talking and sharing with us things that were simply none of our business. We placed our hands down on Austin's lap and leaned back on the sofa as we watched them ramble on for what seemed like forever. I couldn't help but notice how close they were and how well they knew each other, and it made me think if that would ever be Austin and I in several years. They looked so happy, so comfortable with each other, and in that moment, it made me wish that Austin and I could last so we could end up like them. As they carried on talking, I turned my head back to look at Austin to see him gazing at me. _Was he just watching me that whole time?._ I grinned up at him exposing my teethes and he slowly lifted my hand up and kissed it, not breaking the strong eye-contact between us. Looking back at it now, I guess there was no reason to compare mine and Austin's relationship with theirs, because we had something that they didn't and that was the strong intensity of our eyes and the pure joy we felt whenever we looked at each other.

"Austin, we should probably go get ready for school" I muttered over to him glancing up at the clock.

"Wait, School? you guys are still in High school?" Kira questioned as her and Gavin looked at each other in disbelief. "Uhm yeah, this is our final year, we're graduating soon" I stated placing my hand on Austin's lap. They looked at each other once again and I was expecting them to laugh it off just like they had been doing all that time, but instead they turned to look at the both of us almost as if we had just committed a bad crime that they weren't expecting. "Is there a problem?" Austin asked placing his hand over mine before arching a brow at the both of them.

The room filled with unbearable silence for a brief moment till Gavin cleared his throat before speaking up. "I did think you guys looked a little young to be living together, did your parents approve or did y'all just run away?" he asked and I could feel Austin getting annoyed by the second. "Listen you guys may feel like having all this time together will last forever but it won't, I mean we can't entirely judge y'all, Kira and I found an apartment together in our final year of High School too, and we broke up because we couldn't stand each other. We were young and stupid and didn't know what the fuck we were doing, but a couple years later we found our way back to each other. We're both 24 now, Other couples that experience the same things aren't that lucky but we aren't like other couples, right baby? it takes a special and strong bond to be able to overcome all of that" he said glancing over at Kira who sighed to herself before speaking up.

"We're just giving you advice and telling you the hard truth because we've been threw the same thing too, what y'all have is probably not gonna last and its not like you're in love, you're still in High school, you don't know what that is yet... if you two really want to be together you would do what's right now and hopefully you'll find your way back together just like Gavin and I did... hopefully... maybe..." as she finished of her sentence my mouth instantly dropped to the ground in disbelief of what I had just heard.

Silence was the only thing that occurred in that very moment as millions of thoughts ran through my mind. I guess deep down I wanted to believe that Austin and I could make it through thick and thin and not have any doubts but how could I be so sure. I felt Austin's hands slowly loosen from mine and I quickly shot my head up at him. The spark in his eye whenever he looked at me had disappeared for a brief moment as he looked to be in deep thoughts of what was just said. _Was he suddenly having doubts to? was he taking into consideration everything they just mentioned?._

"Uhm... we should get going" they said as they slowly and awkwardly stood up before making their way out the door.

I sighed to myself once more and ran my fingers through my hair whilst trying not to think too much about what they had said in my mind. Moments later, I rose my head up to look at Austin to see him looking back down at me. We held eye contact for a long while till he got up from the sofa. I watched as he walked towards the bathroom, dragging his feet on the floor along the way and I couldn't help but sigh even more. I wanted us to work, I wanted us to work more than anything and I knew the only way that could happen was blocking away all the negative things being thrown at us.

* * *

 _~Hours later._

It was lunchtime and Austin and I were sited outside the School's cafeteria, along with Trish and Dez.

I squinted at the hot and blinding sun which shone down on us before glancing up at Austin. He handed me his plate of dessert and juice box before wrapping his arm around me, but I couldn't help but see the worry in his eyes. He hadn't stopped thinking about what happened this morning and it bothered me because I didn't want to him to start suddenly developing some doubts about us. A small smile slowly crept up on his lips as he watched me take a bite out of his dessert but sadly, it didn't last long. I placed my hand on his back, before glancing across at Trish who rested her cheek in her hand as she watched Dez eat his food. She watched his every move like a hawk and something definitely seemed off but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Moments later, a couple of cheerleaders walked over to our tables, placing a flyer for our School's prom on our table before walking off. "What a waste of time" Trish scoffed before scrunching up the flyer and throwing it inside the bin behind her. She glanced up at the both of us before speaking up. "You guys aren't going to prom next month, are you?" she asked arching a brow at us.

Austin and I never really spoke about the idea of going to prom or the idea of what we were going to do when we graduate. I knew that he didn't want to go to college even though we never talked about, and the idea of us possibly doing long distance terrified me. It was something that I tried not to think about too often. "We haven't decided if we wanna go yet, but its not entirely a waste of time, I'm sure if Trent was our age and went to our High School you would be ecstatic about it" I spoke before glancing over at Dez, who lowered his head whilst playing with his food. "No Ally, I won't care if Trent went to our High School. This whole idea of celebrating these past four years of High School is nothing but a waste of time, what's there to celebrate when nothing ever went right for you here... you wouldn't understand because you only came here four months ago" she snarled before quickly shifting my eyes away. I rolled my eyes before opening my mouth to speak but before I could, Austin quickly placed his hand over mine, almost as if he knew what was about to open. If only she knew just how much of a hard time I had in my old High School in Washington.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes with nothing but the sound of chattering students around us. "I'm sorry, Ally, that was rude of me, I've just been really stressed out lately" she sighed breaking the silence between us. I stared across from her with pity before speaking up. "Then why don't you talk to me about it..." I muttered briefly, trying to figure out what was going on with her.

She slowly diverted her eyes away from me and turned to look at Dez who continued playing with his food with his head low. "Dez... you haven't said a single word to me today... d-did I do something wrong?" she questioned placing her hand over his. I should've known. Whenever Dez was in a mood it made her very upset due to the fact of how much she cared for him. Even though her and Trent were dating, Dez was still the number one guy in her life, he was a whole world and was what kept her going each and every day. "Do you not like the food today?" she asked glancing down at his plate. "If you want we can go get your favourite fast food after school and then-

"Would you stop treating me like a baby for two seconds..." Dez muttered quietly, quickly cutting her off her sentence. She paused and stared up at him in disbelief, not believing that he was suddenly pushing her away like that. "I'm 18 now... you don't have to worry about me and care so much, I can take care of myself, I don't need you all the time, Trish just drop it" it was as if he was slowly stabbing her in the heart with every word that escaped his mouth.

"So what's this all about huh, what's going on, Dez?!" she hissed losing her patience with him. "If I know that you could take care of yourself without me I would've stopped bothering a long time ago but you can't... you can't fucking do anything by yourself!" she snapped drawing some attention over to our table. "You think anyone would've put up with you and your mental disorders for so long like I have... fuck your parents because I've basically taken care and looked after you your whole life and this is the fucking thanks I get for caring? you're so ungrateful!" she snarled before picking her backpack of the floor and getting up from beside him to storm off.

As Dez lowered his head once more, I quickly got up to run after Trish, calling her name along the way. Things had escalated so quickly that it took a while for me to sink in. "Just piss off Ally, not now!" she snapped turning back to face me before going to walk back inside. I clenched up my fists and rubbed my forehead with the other hand as I watched her walk away as quickly as possible. It was as if she made sure not to turn around. I heard footsteps walking up to me from behind and I quickly turn around to see Dallas. He stared down at me and slipped his hands in his pockets before looking up to look back at Trish. "When she gets angry like that you should give her some space for a couple days to clear her head, her anger can spiral out of control sometimes" he mumbled. I looked at him a little gobsmacked at where all this was coming from till I remembered they had dated in middle school. I never thought that he still knew so much about her let alone paid attention to her.

He opened his mouth to speak up but stopped himself almost as if he was about to say something risky. Without saying anything else, he quickly walked back to his friends who were staring at us from his table, and I turned my head to glance over at Austin and Dez.

I watched as Dez began to self-harm himself by smacking his forehead continuously. I instantly panicked and was about to run over but stopped as Austin slowly placed his hand on the back of his head. I was a little sceptical at how easily he was able to calm him down, but remembered his late brother also suffered from the same disorder Dez did. I placed my hand to my side as Dez quickly picked up the fork to harm himself once again, till he was stopped by Austin who snatched it of him and slowly placed his head on his shoulders, not caring who was watching. As Dez began to sob silently on his shoulders, he gently rubbed the back of his head before going to whisper something in his ear. I had no idea what he said but whatever it was, it made him cry even more, it was the type of tears that I could tell he had been holding back. He was truly extraordinary, he acted like he didn't care about a lot of things half of the time, but deep down he truly cared about the people around him whether he was close to them or not. His patience and his ability to care so much after being betrayed so many times was one of the reasons why I was so hopelessly in love with him, and even till this day my feelings still hasn't changed.

* * *

 _~Several more hours later._

Austin, Trent and I were at the back of Trent's underground fight club, minuted before Austin's fight.

I sat across the room with my arms crossed as I watched Austin throw some punches at the punching bag continuously. I hated the feeling I felt deep inside whenever he was about to go out into a fight. I didn't care how long he had been doing it for because I still worried each and every time. I could only do the right thing as his girlfriend to support him and not discourage him, but how much longer could I really watch him get badly bruised up and torn apart each and every time he stepped out there. It didn't matter if he won or lost in the end, because the bruises and scars on his face and his body were enough to drive me into a meltdown. There were times where I felt like crying just looking at them. As he stopped to look back at me, I quickly plastered a smile on his face, hoping that it would give him some sort of strength. He smiled back before going to pour a bottle of water down his head before continuing to throw some punches at the punching bag.

"Fuck... she still isn't answering my calls" Trent sighed, before leaning back in his seat beside me and throwing his head back frustratingly.

"Give her time, she was really pissed off at lunch today... she just doesn't want to see any of us right now, even you" I muttered the last bit looking up at him. Trish was a lot to handle and it required a lot of patience to put up with the person that she was most of the time, but I refused to give up on her because in a way she was a lot like me.

He glanced down at me and smiled before stuffing his phone back in his pocket and getting up beside be to walk over to Austin. "You ready man, its time" Trent said, placing his hand on his shoulder. I quickly got up from my seat before walking over to them. I got on my tip toes to snake my arm around his neck securing our position whilst searching deep into his eyes for something that I didn't quite know the answer to. He lifted me slightly of the ground by my waist and I smiled before leaning down to place a kiss on his lips. We continued to move our lips slowly together, completely lost in the moment, till Trent quickly cleared his throat causing us to pull away. "Didn't mean to interrupt but can y'all continue this later" he laughed winking at us before going to stroll towards the door.

Austin rolled his eyes away from him before placing me back down on the ground. I steadily grasped his arm and leaned up to place a kiss on his lips once again before the three of us headed out the door. As we stepped into the main fight hall, voices were instantly raised to a deafening crescendo with the large crowd of people shouting and screaming at the sight of Austin. I clutched onto his hand tightly with both of my hands as we walked through the crowd of people and over to the middle. I would never forget the roars and howls of the people so eagered to see a fight go down before my very eyes. Being in that place always made me feel so uncomfortable, but I never forgot the pure adrenaline I felt whenever I stepped foot there. It wasn't just the large crowd of people that made the place dangerous, but it was also the atmosphere and how secretive it was. Although it was illegal, it was also a somewhat special place not just for Trent, but a lot of people who came to witness the fights each and every week.

As Austin walked closer to his opponent who stood waiting in the middle, I hesitantly stood next to Trent with worry and panic building up inside me as each second passed. Within several seconds later the fight had began. Even though Austin had immediately gotten the upper hand, it was still difficult to watch as I feared he might get hurt any minute. No matter how many punched he threw at his opponent, I still feared for the worse that was to possibly come. I had to be prepared for it no matter what.

"C'mon baby..." I whispered to myself clasping my hands together tightly as the roars of the crowd began to get louder.

I continued to watch anxiously as Austin grabbed his opponents arm, and pinned him with his knee before punching him straight in the jaw causing him to roar loudly in pain. He turned his head to glance at me and I quickly flashed him a nervous smile, but that immediately faded away as his opponent got up to swing a punch at him with such force that blood pooled into his mouth. It was just what I feared, seeing blood running down his mouth once again made me want to instantly want to stop the fight but seeing as how he had gotten incredibly angry furious about it before, I decided not to interfere. Austin got back up to throw a punch at him and the two began to wrestle around, gaining the upper hand on one another with every every opportunity they got. I turned my head back to roam the crowd of people who screamed and cheered loudly, before looking back at Austin who wiped the blood away from his mouth. Just like all of his fights, he looked like he would rather be dead than carry on with it, but he carried on anyway, this time getting punched straight in the eye. My hands began to tremble I stood firmly on the ground, watching the blood drip down his face whilst he breathed in and out rapidly. Even though I was incredibly scared and terrified, I made sure not to show it. Whenever Austin got hit, he would always turn to look at me and I knew that if he saw just how frightened I really was, it would seriously affect him so I made sure to keep a brave face at all times even though it was killing me inside.

For the next 15-20 minutes I stood and watched the fight come to an end. Even though Austin had gotten the upper hand over his opponent and won in the end, he was still badly bruised, just like I expected. Everyone around me screamed and cheered at his victory, but I was slowly falling apart inside due to the amount of blood that streamed down his face. At that moment something inside me clicked. I couldn't stand to see this happen again, I couldn't possibly hope for the best each time when I knew the outcome in the end. No matter how long he had been doing that for. I feared that if he continued fighting like that, he would someday break all the bones in his body and become so injured that it would be impossible to heal from. I didn't want that, I didn't want to imagine that, but as I watched him limp over to me whilst grasping onto his ribs in pain, I knew that I had to do something to stop this from possibly happening again.

After everybody had cleared off from the building, Austin, Trent and I were back in the changing room near the back.

I sat back in my seat across the room as I watched Austin bandage himself up as Trent spoke to someone on the phone beside him. It almost felt as if he was trying to avoid eye contact with me. When he finally met my gaze, he sighed and pushed his head back before throwing the bandages on the table. It remained silent for a brief while till Trent ended his call before turning his focus back on us. "I'ma just go talk to somebody outside, I'll be back soon" he said nodding his head at us before turning to exit out the door.

As he shut the door behind him, the silence grew more and more until it started to become unbearable. "Austin... we have to talk..." I spoke getting up from the seat to slowly walk over to him. He sat down on the table and looked elsewhere and I crossed my arms above my chest before speaking up. "Maybe... maybe its time you stop fighting... I don't like what its doing to you, I know it pays really good money but if you don't stop now then you'll regret it later on" I said gazing at him with sincerity in my eyes, so much so that I could feel tears starting to appear in it.

"What... where's all this coming from, I won today" he mumbled before lowering his head to look at the ground.

"And I suppose that makes you happy right? it doesn't matter if you win or lose Austin because you end up like this every single time" I stated not breaking my focus away from him.

He gaped at me for several seconds before breathing out a deep sigh once again. "I don't wanna hear this right now" he hissed before getting up to limp towards the showers. I dropped my hand to the side and ran my fingers through my hair before speaking up again. "Look I get it okay, the more you get hit the harder you fight, I understand, I just watched you fight and it was more brutal than the last time. You're taking way too many hits before you get off Austin, I love you, you matter more to me than anybody else in this world and I won't be saying all this if I didn't love and care about you" I grunted with my voice breaking on every word. It was hard to finally get that of my chest, but it was especially difficult seeing his reaction to it. I knew that he wouldn't be too happy to hear it but I couldn't keep quiet any longer for his sake.

"Are you fucking serious?" he spoke turning back to face me. "Are you forgetting that I have a criminal record? I went to jail three fucking times for shit I didn't even do, I can't just go out and get a regular job so easily and I can't quit this just because you want me to, I'm trying to do my best to take care of the both of us here" he snarled in an annoyed tone whilst rubbing his forehead irritatingly.

"Baby, I have a job I can take care of the both of us, you don't need to keep doing this. I see how you get whenever blood starts dripping down from you. You look like you don't wanna be there and do this and I can't sit back and watch that anymore... I'm gonna tell you the truth, you're gonna be punch drunk in the next several months if you keep this up" I said as warm tears heavily flowed in my eyes. He ran his hand down his face before going to knock over a couple things beside him. "Oh now we're talking about the truth? why don't you just go ahead and agree with what those two said to us this morning while you're at it, that's the fucking truth too, right?" he hissed before rolling his eyes away.

I froze as I watched him start to gather up his stuff. I pressed my lips tightly together as my heart began to ache by what he had just said. "So you're saying you're having doubts about us is that it?... why are we even living together, we're gonna break up anyway just like they said, right?... if you wanna fucking believe everything those idiots said then go ahead because I guess that's the fucking truth isn't it?!" I snapped before quickly grabbing my bag of the floor and storming out the door. I hurried down the hallway with tears slowly flowing down my face. I didn't realise that what Gavin and Kira had said had been stuck in his mind the whole day. I liked to think we were a couple who wouldn't care what people said about us as we went through so much shit at school, but right then, I wasn't so sure anymore.

* * *

It was then late at night. I laid in the bedroom gazing out at the starry night's sky in deep thought about everything that had happened today.

Austin hadn't come home and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting really worried, despite what happened previously. I guess I needed that time alone to think about a lot of things especially things between him and I. I would never break the promise I made to him, I loved him way too much to leave him but it pained me to know that he was starting to have doubts about us all because of what two strangers had said. Things were fine for a little while with us, we had no problems, worries or issues and I wished that could've lasted a little longer before something like this automatically occurred. I wished that we could've continued living peacefully from then on but nothing's ever truly perfect and that goes for the relationship I shared with Austin. I loved him yes, but I had to do more to make our relationship work and I wanted us to do the same, to not let what people say affect us in any way shape or form.

I glanced over at the clock realising that it was almost midnight. Sighing to myself, I quickly lifted my head of the pillow before picking up my phone to call Austin, but before I could, I heard the door slam shut and I felt my heartbeat rapidly quicken at the sound.

I laid back down on the pillow expecting him to come into the bedroom anytime soon, but when he didn't I began to get really worried. I rose my head from the pillow once more before putting on my cardigan and walking towards the door. I clutched onto the door knob and pressed my ears further against the door to see if I could hear anything before slowly twisting it open and stepping out the room. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ears before switching on the light in the living room to see Austin sitting on the floor beside the sofa. His head was pushed back, staring up at the ceiling in his thoughts. I tucked my hands into my pockets as I leaned my back on the wall gazing over at him. His eyes were so weary and I could tell that he had been crying.

Moments later, I pushed my back against the wall before going to slowly walk over to him. I crouched down beside him not saying anything, but I wanted to say a lot, to tell him what I had been thinking to myself for the past several hours I had been alone. A couple minutes later, I turn my head to look at him to see tears rolling down his cheek. He covered his face with his hand to stop the tears from flowing but that didn't seem to help.

"Its okay..." I whispered sitting down on the floor before lifting my hand up to wipe the tears from his face.

He grabbed hold of my hand and moved it closer to him as he started to break down even more. Seeing him cry like that made me cry tears that I didn't know I was holding in till then. "Don't leave me... please... never leave me... I'm sorry, I love you" he sniffed before pulling me closer to him. I pushed his head down so he could cry on my shoulders. I stroked and caressed his hair gently as tears rolled down my eyes continuously. "I promised I'll never let you go remember... I love you too" I exclaimed whilst squeezing him tighter. "I'll never let you go Austin... ever".

We remained like that in each other's arms till the next morning with nothing on our minds but the pure joy of just being with each other. I wish it could've been like that for a little longer, just long enough for me to remember the happy and peaceful times that was the early days of our relationship.

* * *

 _ **I'm so sorry it took me this long to update this chapter, I had three exams last week and two this week and I needed to put my attention in them first before I could update, but anyways I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and how emotional it was. If you did don't forget to leave a review, I love you guys.**_


	20. Special Chapter 2

_**This is another special filler chapter in Austin's PO**_ **V. Since you guys liked the last one, I thought I'd do another one, enjoy!**

* * *

In the beginning when we first started dating, I didn't think that there'll be a time as difficult as this. We both had a lot of problems and issues, me especially, but I didn't think it would affect how we feel towards each other and our relationship alone.

I stood in the small way behind my bathroom door as I peered inside at Ally, who sat on the edge of the bathtub. I watched as she lowered her head sightly and breathed out a deep sigh. She sat there quietly, her arms wrapped tightly around herself in a hug, hoping to comfort herself. Her body begins to gently rocked back and forth, her cheeks stained with the endless stream of tears from her glossy eyes, enduring the emotional pain that continued to engulf him.

This was how it was every other day or so, she would sit in the bathroom alone and cry to herself for however long, completely unaware and oblivious to the fact that I was watching. For the past several months that I've known her, I've come to realise that she is the type of person who has a lot of pride, she's the type of person who would do anything to stop anyone from seeing her cry or show any sign of weakness, including me. Whenever she's with me, she pretends to be strong for my sake, but deep down I always knew something was wrong. She cries about a lot of things. She cries about her mom being in the hospital, she cries about her father's departure from her life, and more importantly she cries about us. There was nothing that she could do to fix all the wrongs that happened in her life so the only thing she could do is cry, and it made me feel like utter shit. I didn't confront her whenever I saw her weep and asked what was wrong afterwards because I knew that it'll only make her cry even more, and that is something I definitely didn't want to happen. She had every reason to cry alone I guess, her mother was in the hospital after trying to kill herself, her father had left them after bringing her and her mother to a city she didn't even want to move to in the first place, and there was then our relationship. We argues and fought so much now, even about every little thing that I almost forgot what it was like for us in the beginning.

I watched as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing even more, and unable to watch the sight of me for any longer, I quickly hung my head low and rubbed my eyes before making my way back to the living room. I flopped down onto the sofa and pushed my head back. I could still hear the sound of her crying from over at the bathroom and it pained me just listening to it all.

I guess I really am the worse boyfriend in the whole world. I wish there was something I could do to stop her from shedding a tear again in her life, but I just didn't know what. The fighting began after the day she told me to quit fighting at the underground fight club. When she said those words I had no doubt that I had to do it, I'd do whatever she asked me to do just to keep her happy and stop her from ever leaving me, but I still needed more time in figuring out what to do next. Trent often told me how incredibly possessive I'm becoming towards her, and it pretty much pissed me off. Its as if he's telling me that I was going to drive her away someday with how I was. I'm not overprotective, clingy or anything like that, its just that whenever we have a huge fight I wanted to prove to her how sorry I was and show her how much I love her to stop it from possibly happening again. I tried not to think about it too much, but I couldn't ignore the fact I am scared, I'm scared that one day she might wake up and decide that she didn't wanna do this anymore with me and then leave. Its my worst nightmare, something that I absolutely dreaded, and despite how many times we fight, I didn't want it to become a reality.

I sat quietly to myself for what seemed like half an hour, till I heard the bathroom door gently close shut. I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head back around to see her slowly walking into the living room. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ears and flashed me a wide grin, almost as if she hasn't been sobbing to herself not to long ago. It annoyed me whenever she tried to hide whatever she was feeling inside by simply smiling at me, like I couldn't see straight through her, but it made me even angry to see her completely shut me out and not tell me how she felt to stop herself from being a 'burden' to my life.

She slowly made her way to sit beside me on the sofa and I watched her every move, knowing that she wouldn't let herself slip up in front of me, she was extra careful when it came to that. As she went to pick up the remote to turn on the TV, I grabbed her hand and pulled he closer towards me so the back of her head was leaning on my chest. I non-hesitantly then wrapped both my arms around her tightly and placed a kiss on top of her head. She pushed her head all the way back to flash me another smile, but I couldn't smile back. Her red cheeks and the remaining tears still evident in her eyes from when she was crying initially stopped me from doing so. She gripped onto my arm and looked back down, and with that we remained in silence while holding onto each other. We hardly ever got to do this anymore and I wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon.

Nobody ever thinks that there could be a way we could work, they just saw it as two teenagers living together, but it was more than that. The feeling that both Ally and I feel towards each other was beyond our age's. People often looked at us and thought how we could possibly feel this way at such a young age... I never thought I would ever feel this way after everything that's happened in my life, but now that I do, I'd die before I let this feeling go, I'd rather kill myself than to let what me and Ally have slip away. Even though our relationship wasn't perfect and still needed a lot of work for us to prove people wrong, she's still the best thing to ever me, she's my whole world, the reason why I wake up in the morning and continue on during the day, she's simply my everything, and nobody could understand that but us. She pushed her head back again to look at me, and I looked back down at her before leaning down to place a kiss on her lips. Maybe I am a little possessive, and maybe I do feel a little ashamed about it, falling in love with her has made me a little crazy and completely changed me and I could say the same for her.

 _"Its almost three... I'll go make us some lunch, come help me"_ she spoke up, glancing over at the clock and then back up at me. As she lifted her head up from my chest, I non-hesitantly pulled her back down and sighed leaving her a little bewildered and confused. _"We'll make lunch letter, lets just sit like this for a while longer"_ I muttered trying to hide the slight frustration in my voice, but it didn't work. We hardly ever got to sit with each other in peace and silence since we spent all our time being apart because we were so annoyed with each other after our fights. Was I too selfish for wanting to have her in my arms at every chance I could get?...

She looked up at me for a brief moment before pushing her head of my chest again and getting up from the sofa. _"We haven't eating anything all day Austin, and we didn't even last night too because-_

 _"Because we were too busy fighting over bullshit..."_ I spoke finishing of her sentence for her. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes about me about to turn around to walk away, but before she could, I quickly grabbed onto her wrist stopping her. _"Do you not wanna be with me anymore Ally? do you not love me anymore?"_ I found myself raising my voice at her by the second, but I couldn't seem to stop it, even though I knew how much she hated whenever I did that. _"I don't care about eating right now Ally, can't you see that I just wanna be with you like this for a while... why won't you just tell me what's on your mind? this is the reason why we fucking fight-_

 _"Don't raise your voice at me Austin, I don't even know what you're talking about"_ she snapped cutting me of my sentence.

 _"I'm talking about you crying inside that fucking bathroom almost everyday instead of coming to me and telling me if you feel like shit. Would it hurt to push your fucking pride away for once_ and just be honest with me instead of pretending like everything's okay... I was gonna give up fighting for you... to make you happy... but right now I'm not even sure if I should..." I hissed while gaping down at her. Rolling my eyes away, I turned to pick up my motorcycle keys from the table before storming over to the door. Without looking back at her, I quickly opened it and stepped out before slamming it shut after me.

I composed myself for a couple minutes as I pressed my back against the door while running my fingers through my hair. I hated fighting with her, it was one of the things that made me feel terrible about myself, but I couldn't control either. I guess I just became frustrated yet again that I ended up taking it out on her. I know that she loved me and would do anything to make me happy just like I would do for her. There isn't a day that goes past, where she doesn't tell me how special I am and how I have an incredible future ahead of me with my art, she looks at me with so much love, the way my mom once looked at my dad many years ago, she believes in me when I don't even believe in myself, and sometimes I found myself taking it for granted. I turn back around to push the door open but quickly stopped as I reached the door knob. As much as I hated to admit, we needed some space from each other even if it was for a couple hours. I stared at the door for a couple more minutes before turning around to head down the stairs.

A while later, after driving around town to clear my head, I found myself at the supermarket where we bought most of our groceries.

I wandered around the store for a little while, picking up some of her favourite foods along the way. We loved doing stuff together, after all we did live together. If we weren't teenagers I would've already asked her to marry me. Yes, marriage is something that we both want someday, as well as having lots of kids. The thought of us becoming a real family one day made me more happier than having her here with me now, but I know that its too much of a stretch. I always restricted myself in thinking about our future together, because it might turn out to be far from what I expect, but that didn't stop me from someday wanting me. Before I met her, I never thought about marriage and kids and the future, I always said to myself that it was another guy's dream to get married and have kids but not mine, and unfortunately that all changed when I met her. The first day I saw her walk into our English classroom in early January, I couldn't keep my eyes of her. I would never forget the night where I first watched her dance because it was also the first time I started to feel something for her. I didn't think she would ever feel the same way or a relationship could ever develop between us, which is why I tried not to think about our future together.

I picked up her favourite ice cream flavour from the freezer and stared down at it before hanging my head low in frustration. Moments later, I felt someone walking up behind me, and I quickly turned my head back around to see Piper. She stared up at me with her devilish emerald green eyes almost as if she was searching for something to say. Whenever I laid eyes on her, it reminded me of all the things I suffered through in our relationship. I experienced a lot of mental health that I only ever saw happen to my mother years ago, she messed with my head in so many ways that I didn't even know was possible and when I did finally manage to break free from her, I thought that I would finally feel at peace, I thought that I wouldn't ever have to experience anything like that ever again, but I was wrong. Till this day I'm still messed up in so many ways, and the hardest part of it all is hiding it from Ally to prevent her from worrying constantly.

I gaped down at her for a brief while before rolling my eyes away and turning to look elsewhere. I was about to walk away from her, till she gripped onto my arm stopping me. _"Can we please just talk outside... I-I just wanna talk, I promise I won't try anything"_ she muttered, searching into my eyes pleadingly. _"I'll wait for you outside on the bench beside your motorcycle"_ she said and with that she turned around to walk away, making sure to look back at me along the way. Believe it or not, there was a time when I could stand her, it was around the time when I first met her when I was 17, even though I hardly said two words to her, she quickly took an interest in me and I went ahead with it because I was tired of being lonely, come to think of it I was tired of a lot of things back then, but I never could decide to end it all even though I was often temped to.

Several minutes later, I strolled outside the supermarket to see Piper sitting on a bench beside my motorcycle while staring of into the distance. I sighed a small sigh under my breath and sat beside her, making sure to leave a huge gap behind us.

She looked up at me for a brief while before shifting closer to me and placing her hands together. _"I-I- went to the fight club to look for you, but they said that you're gonna quit soon"_ as I gazed ahead refusing to look at her. _"Is she making you do it?... you know you don't have to give up something you love because of her, you've been fighting for three years, its what you love to do, its the only thing you can do so-_

 _"What do you want?!"_ I snapped quickly cutting her of her sentence.

Before I knew it, my aching hands started to ball into fists and my jaw clenches as the surrounding of the air makes a pretty tie around my brain. My eyes then became uneasy, making milli-second notes of every little thing. I ran my finger through my hair continuously as the world around me seemed to spin as each second passed. _"I'm guessing your little girlfriend doesn't know you suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder... right?"_ she mumbled, placing her hand down on my lap. Around a few years ago, shortly after my little brother died, I found out that I was diagnosed with PTSD. It was something the Doctor called very serious if I didn't take care of myself properly and try to forget all that had happened, but I still paid no attention to it as I found my life meaningless back then. Ever since I met Ally, I refrained from telling her because I didn't want her worrying like she always did, which would possibly lead to her crying alone again. I am seriously fucked up. I asked her to tell me whatever was on her mind and not keep secrets for me but I can'e even do the same. What am I supposed to do?

Moments later, I loosened my hand from my hair before slowly removing Piper's hand from my lap and placing it on hers. _"Is that all you wanted to talk about"_ I scoffed quietly before getting up from the bench.

 _"No... its not all"_ she exclaimed following after me. She grabbed hold of my arm again before running in front of me to stop me from walking any further, and with a shaky deep breath she spoke up. _"Jason's dead... he was shot last night... I just thought I should let you know"_ she murmured as tears started to sprinkle onto my eyes. Jason was the leader of the gang I was in before I got arrested last year. He helped me out with a lot of things, but down the road I began to understand the person he really was. Sure he was a criminal, but even some criminals have a heart, but he on the other hand had nothing. Leaving that gang was the best decision I ever made in a long time, and I'll gladly walk away again I could. _"I know Jason treated you like shit and never came to visit you when you were in jail but he would still want you to be at his funeral"._

I watched as a single tear rolled down her eye and before I knew it, she quickly buried her face in my chest. _"Jason was like my big brother, he did so much for us, he wanted the best for you and I, he did what he did for us... fuck... why did you choose her over me... I know that I ruined things between us, but you're risking so much for her when you know its not gonna last"_ as the last few words left he mouth, I quickly shoved her away from me before taking a step back and clenching my fist. Without saying another word, I rapidly got on my motorcycle and drove off, while trying t forget all what she said. _'Its not gonna last_ '... it truly pissed me off whenever some said that. They didn't know us, they didn't know our relationship or what we have to go through each day just to make it work, just to make sure that it lasted till the next day.

An hour later after driving around town to clear my head once again, I pulled up across the street at where my dad sat each day.

I got of my motorcycle and sat on Ally and I's bench as I watched him play his ukulele to people passing by. His large gnarled toes peeked out of his far too small shoes, his plaid pants hung loosely on his under nourished frame, his lice infected hair used to flow easily in the wind, but now so greasy that it hung, matted with insects and perhaps a bird or two. The ripped grey t-shirt, that was draped over his shoulders was blood spattered and covered in mold and saliva from his hard nights on the street. He stood baring nothing but the clothes on his back, and a small glimmer of hope that may as well have died years ago.

Despite how he looked, he still had a big smile plastered across his face as he happily played his ukulele. That instrument brought back so many memories. I remember the first day my mom bought it for him as a birthday present and he had played it all night to the three of us, her especially. From then on he would play it for her whenever she was feeling unhappy or angry. Despite his memory less, my dad was a man who liked to smile a lot, he was the most happiest person in the world till my mom got sentenced to prison, resulting in him to lose all hope in life and his sense of wonder. The three of us meant a lot to him, but I know that my mom meant more to him seeing as she's the reason his life went to absolute shit. When I ran away with my brother years ago, I never expected to see him again, and when I did I was shocked to find out he had lost his memory. I didn't bother telling him my name or that I was his son because I knew that nothing good will come out from it. We've both lost everything, and even if he managed to still remember after the devastating car crash, it would be far too late, and there would be no hope for us. I secretly hoped that he would remember who I am, but on the other hand I hoped that he wouldn't. Our days as father and son are long gone behind us, but I have to make sure that he's okay at all times and that nothing unfortunately happens to me.

Several minutes later, I slowly got up from the bench to cross the road over to him. As I approached him, I quickly brought some money out from my wallet before placing it in his little basket and turning to walk back, but before I could take a single step, he quickly stopped me.

 _"Well, this is more money than you've ever given me"_ he chuckled, placing his ukulele down and sitting down on the concrete. _"You're always giving me some money or food and leaving afterwards and I don't even know your name... come join me, sport"_ he smiled, signalling for me to sit beside him. That was the nickname that he always used to call me when I was little and it made me feel a little uneasy.

I looked around at people walking past for several seconds before hesitantly sitting beside him on the concrete floor. I haven't been this close to him for years, whenever I came to drop money of for him, I would refrain from hanging around too long or being closer to him. I wasn't sure why, but I suddenly felt nervous and anxious. Moments later, I turned my head to look at him to see him already looking back at me with a huge smile on his face. Before everything had unfolded terribly within our family, I remember how my mom used to tell my brother and I that she had fell in love with my dad due to how happy he was at all times even in difficult situations, and even now that he lost his memory and forgotten everything about his past, he still continues to smile like there would be a brighter light tomorrow, he still continues to look at the world like it is some fantasy and that everything is picture perfect when its far from that. But seeing him smile so brightly made me a little jealous because I wish I could do the same, I wish I could smile through all the pain I felt sometimes, but I couldn't. I wasn't great at hiding how I felt, even if I could somehow form a smile to my face.

 _"I didn't get to thank you properly for giving me this ukulele... but lately whenever I play it, I feel like I once played it for someone you know... someone very special"_ he announced picking up the ukulele from beside him. I watched as he gaped down at it closely, almost as if he was trying to figure out what he's probably been thinking about for a couple days. For a brief second, I found myself wanted to tell him that that special someone was indeed my mother, but I figured that wasn't the best idea as of yet, so instead, I continued to watch as he stared at the instrument like it was the most fascinating thing he's ever seen.

After a short while, he placed it back down beside him before turning his full attention to me. _"Say, you seem a little more down than usual"_ he chuckled, moving closer to me. " _What about that girl that always comes down here with you?, she's a real sweetheart, are you two together?"_ he asked as people walking past glanced down at us. I paused for a little while, before nodding my head, thinking back to the little argument we had before I left the apartment earlier on. _"You got a good one there, any young girl that dances to old 80's music with many people watching is a keeper, if I was you, I'd never let her go"_ he said patting me on his shoulder. _"Now what's your name, son?"_ he asked eagerly. I searched into his eyes, almost as if I was testing him to see if he could recognise me. I didn't expect him to, the last time he saw me when I was only nine years old, that was ten years ago, even if he did remember me, he obviously wouldn't recognise me now.

I sat quietly refusing to answer his question of telling him my name, and he sighed a defeated sigh before picking up the money I had given him and briefly handing it back to me. _"The first time that you started coming down here to give me money was around five years ago and this was the first time that you've ever sat with me... take the money, son, this is more than enough"_ he said holding the money up to my face. I stared down at the money before getting up from the concrete floor and dusting of my clothes. " _You need that more than I do..."_ it is the first words that I've ever said to him, and I could tell it shocked him a whole lot as he didn't expect to hear the sound of my voice. I took one last long at him, before turning back around to cross the road.

It was better than I didn't say too much or else he really would've remembered me.

A couple hours later, the sun had started to go down. I drove further down the street over to my apartment building, with the gush of wind hitting my bare skin.

Although these several hours away from Ally gave me a lot of time to think, I was only ever really thinking about her. Our relationship was far from perfect, we were both insecure in our own ways and didn't quite trust each other more enough to tell each other everything, but that was something we needed to work on, not for other people, but for us. Having my dad acknowledge her and how amazing she really is, made it extremely worthwhile. Despite how bad things get between us, I could never let her go because I promised her that I never will and she promised the same. It wasn't easy, it was certainly far from that, but that's what made it so worthwhile.

As I approached the building, I spotted a small figure stood outside and I quickly noticed that it was her. She stood with her back pressed against the wall, wearing nothing but a sweater and jean shorts. _Was she waiting outside for me?_ I thought to myself as I quickly pulled up in front of her. Her eyes quickly shot up as she heard the sound of my engine and she let out a sigh of relief before walking over to me. She stared up at me worriedly, almost as if she was scared that something bad at happened, and it made me truly realise how lucky I am to truly have this girl in my life. She lifted her hand up to cup my cheek, and I slowly nestled her hand with mine as I shut my eyes, relaxing to the feel of her soft and gentle hands caressing my face. She brought her other hand up to cup the left side of my face and I groaned under my breath before placing my hand on her lower waist, pulling her a little closer to me. I loved having her close to me, her sweet scent engulfed me each and every time.

 _"You've been gone for five and a half hours, I tried calling your phone but realised you didn't take it with you... I was so worried"_ she exclaimed before non-hesitantly getting on her tip toes to wrap her arms around my neck. She grazed her fingers against my right arm before slowly moving her arms down to squeeze my torso. I cupped the back of her head and placed one arm around her waist as a surge of electricity rapidly flowed through us. The feeling we got whenever we kissed or hugged was simply electrifying and unreal, it almost made all the fights we had at this point seemed pointless. Its as if we'd never really been apart as we embraced with such passion and intensity. Our arms clasped around each other and pressed our chests together, as warm tears flowed down our cheeks. Neither of us seemed to not want to let go, so we sat hugging each other for a long, long while, not caring who walked past us.

 _"I don't want us to keep fighting... I'm sorry that you had to see me cry"_ she sniffed while holding onto my waist as tightly as possible.

 _"Lets go upstairs and talk"_ I whispered and she briefly nodded her head.

After we pulled away from each other, we rapidly inter-wined our hands together before turning to head inside the building. We slowly walked up the stairs, while holding onto each other's hand tightly. Seconds later, I looked up to see Gavin and Kira walking down the stairs. They stared at us with deceiving looks, but we quickly ignored it as we hurried up the stairs. One of the reasons why we argued a lot was other people's opinions on us, and I hoped that now we would try and forget about it all because the most important thing we could do for each other was to work on our relationship, after all we do have an important promise to keep.

* * *

 _ **Sorry it took me literally forever to upload, I've been going through a lot of family issues, which honestly demotivated me from writing completely, but I have to finish this story not only for you guys but for me too since writing is everything to me. I'll be uploading the next chapter and going back to Ally's POV in a couple days, till then I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, love you guys and thanks for being patient.**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Hello, I started writing this story a year ago and the last time updated was a while ago too due to the personal problems I was going through. I've revisited this story lately, and I'm thinking about continuing on. If yall would like to see me continue with this story then just leave a review x**_

 _ **-Jenny**_


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